Team WRBY
by knives4cash
Summary: There may be no victory in strength, but Weiss Schnee begged to differ.
1. Episode Fate

"You are so childish," Weiss sneered in frustration.

Ruby slowly opened her eyes to find a very golden and equally sharp Deathstalker's stinger frozen in place and just a few invaluable inches away from her face. It was at those moments that the young Ruby Rose found herself completely at a loss for words. Letting out a breath that she did not realize was being held, she looked to her savior.

"Weiss?" she asked, surprised to see that it was her recently acquired partner who had saved her head from imminent impalement.

"And dimwitted. And hyperactive." With little effort she removed Myrtenaster from the ice, launching a few stray chips of ice into the air. Turning to face Ruby, she finished with equal agitation, "And don't even get me started on your fighting style."

But she did take heed in choosing her words and offered Ruby sanction. "And I suppose I can be a bit..."

It was Ruby's expression of gritted teeth and her eyes that resembled those of a kicked puppy that caused the heiress to be just a tad more real with herself.

"...difficult," she admitted with begrudging honesty. "But if we're going to do this," she offered as she leaned in to speak more softly to her teammate. "We're going to have to do this together."

Seeing that Ruby's expression had reached one of thankfulness and recognition, Weiss smiled. "So if you quit trying to show off, I'll be…"

Straightening her back, she paused to find a word that would not completely fracture her pride. But, as the milliseconds passed, Weiss recognized the futility of the matter and chose to cast aside her pride for what she hoped would be a better future.

"Nicer."

Ruby, thankful that the older girl had sought a path of complacency, returned the tone. "I'm not trying to show off. I want you to know I can do this." she explained, desperate to show that her intentions were pure.

Happy that they had finally reached an understanding, Weiss simply let the girl know, "You're fine." and turned back to the gargantuan mutant that was barely being restrained by her dust powered attack.

Bowing her head, Ruby breathed a sigh of relief. "Normal knees." At last, the future looked bright for her.

Carefully avoiding the creature's claws and equally sharp legs, Weiss found for herself an unarmored and exposed section of the creature's belly. The monster's agitation skyrocketed, as if it somehow knew that the coup de grace was about to be delivered.

Chambering the red dust crystal, Weiss placed her left foot forward, and her signature snowflake appeared beneath her feet. She launched herself against the creature at point blank range and almost let go of the glowing red Myrtenaster out of sheer horror as the creature let out an agonized shriek.

But Weiss held fast. With the combined, raw power of her semblance and dust, she managed to cut into the creature's body, setting the immediate portion of the underbelly on fire. The portion directly opposite Weiss's incision simply blew open, allowing for a good portion of the Grimm's intestines, blood, and other undesirable bits of biology to be fired out and into the sky.

Ruby gawked at the violent display of force. It wasn't every day one had the opportunity to witness a Deathstalker being disemboweled. Ruby gawked even further as she realized that that could have been her earlier on if Weiss hadn't avoided the collision with her.

The creature, now with a sizable tunnel carved through its body, fell dead at last.

Cringing at the whole ordeal, Weiss pulled her red hot blade out of the corpse and quickly withdrew from the scene as more blood and guts began to spill from the original hole, still ablaze. She had set a few trees, on fire; she wasn't going to start feeling guilty now about leaving other things in a similar state.

And so Ruby withdrew Crescent Rose and made a quick, clean cut across the Nevermore's feather that had up to that point been holding her down. As the bulk of it fell to the ground, she took hold of her cape and pulled it up, finally freeing herself. The cape had a sizable hole in its normally uninterrupted, illustrious red; but a few minutes of patchwork would surely remedy Ruby's fashion dilemma.

With her trusty weapon at her side, Ruby managed to repress most of the shock at seeing a Deathstalker just a few feet away from her. Granted, it was as dead as a doorknob, but in her defence she had never seen a one so up close before. The creature of Grimm, despite all of its grotesque features, desires to kill, and what currently seemed to be an infinite supply of blood and guts, was oddly… fascinating.

Of course, whatever moments of philosophical epiphany that the young Ruby Rose may have had were quickly washed away as Yang ran up to her and threw her arms around her younger sister.

"I'm so glad you're okay!" she exclaimed, perfectly content to crush the girl's spine and ironically contradicting her words. Family had always been valuable to both girls. The thought of losing her sister was one that the normally fearless Yang Xiao Long prefered not to observe.

After a few choice, reprimanding words from Yang to Ruby, the two girls soon regrouped with Weiss and Blake; and the four of them were quickly reinforced by Jaune Arc, Pyrrha Nikos, a mysteriously complacent man with a single strand of pink in his pitch black hair, and a girl with red hair and very pink… everything. Even her grenades were pink.

They introduced themselves as Lie Ren and Nora Valkyrie, and the eight engaged in a light conversation amongst each other.

"Thanks," Ruby murmured to Weiss as the eight of them gathered in front of the chess pieces. "You seem like you're pretty nice," she speculated with an earnest smile.

Ruby deliberately ignored Weiss's actions of using stray leaves to cleanse Myrtenaster of the impure Grimm blood that insisted upon clinging to the blade.

"I'm sure you have your fits of joy and boundless compassion as well," Weiss offered with a nod and pleasant tone. The girl had her heart in the right place, that much Weiss could see. A good leader with sufficient patience would surely be all that one would need in order to transform her into a magnificent huntress.

But her thoughts were interrupted as the Nevermore let loose a savage shriek off in the distance.

Jaune Arc observed with unhidden fear, "Um, guys! That thing's circling back. What are we gonna do?"

Weiss had studied for this. She had trained for this. She was ready to fight, claw, and bite for this. "Look, there's no sense in dillydallying," she explained as she stepped forward and motioned towards the chess pieces. "Our objective is right in front of us."

"She's right," Ruby recognized. "Our mission is to find an artifact and bring it back to the cliffs. There's no point in fighting these things."

Weiss could not help but feel a sense of pride, and so she gave the younger girl a nod of acknowledgement. The girl learned quickly, she could not argue that.

"Run and live?" Jaune repeated back to himself, recognizing the low risk policy that the plan entailed. "That is an idea I can get behind," he reasoned as he and Ruby approached the chess pieces.

Ruby selected the golden knight. Jaune selected the golden rook.

Neither had any inkling as to what their supposedly inconsequential decision would have on their futures. But their futures were now cast in stone.

And there would be no going back.

"It's time we left," Ren observed as the eight of them carefully monitored the Nevermore's impending attack. An aggressive creature, the Nevermore was, much like all Grimm. It was as bold as it was ferocious. The probability of surviving, even with an eight versus one fight, seemed slim to Ren.

"Right." Ruby motioned for the others to follow. "Let's go!" she exclaimed as she dashed off.

The others quickly followed, but Yang stood her ground.

It was Blake Belladonna who took notice of her partner's actions and stopped. "What is it?" she asked out of concern. Now was not the time, as Weiss put ever so formally, to dillydally.

Yang smiled blissfully, watching her younger sister stop for Weiss, who almost eagerly took Ruby's offer of charging ahead side by side. She faltered, ever so briefly, before accepting; and the two went forward together.

"Nothing." she answered before running after the rest of the group. Besides not dying, Yang wanted her sister to make friends, and it looked like there was already a fierce friendship in the making.

Smiling to herself, Blake immediately followed her partner.

The group made haste and soon came upon the ancient ruins of some form of structure that had been built to bridge the land with a implausibly deep ravene. Multiple pathways all lead up to the skeletal remains of a tower. The entire form was positioned before a cliff that towered a few hundred feet above them.

And at the top of the cliff landed the Nevermore. Giving its wings a fluff, the giant bird unleashed another shriek. The eight creatures had trespassed into its domain, and it would surely see to their removal, by lethal force if necessary.

"I hate birds," Blake muttered below her breath as she and Yang grabbed cover behind a massive stone slab that was conveniently placed before the structure.

"Good kitty," Yang purred with a chuckle as she readied Ember Celica. But as Blake gave her a freezing glare, Yang asked, "Whaaat?" Patting her on the shoulder, she reasoned, "C'mon, we might die in a few minutes! Just go with it!"

Blake remained unamused as she double checked Gambol Shroud.

Ruby and Weiss, already paired up, sought similar cover. As Ruby reloaded Crescent Rose, she asked, "You ever killed a Nevermore?" There was hope in her voice. Having someone experienced to guide her through sounded like a luxury too good to be real.

Weiss carefully unloaded Myrtenaster and emptied out her dust crystals. Placing the partially used sources of power into her back pouch, she reloaded with fresh, whole ones. "No," she admitted with a shake of her head, much to Ruby's discontent.

Peaking out behind her cover, Weiss quickly looked the beast over. Its vulnerable areas were the neck, stomach, legs, and back. "But I have studied them."

She quickly withdrew her head before the creature could fire anymore of its feathers. "Extensively. Almost all Grimm are vulnerable on the underbelly," she finished, looking Ruby dead in the eye.

Ruby gulped. It was becoming quite apparent to her that her teammate had come to Beacon expecting to seize nothing short of absolute victory. Or at the very least, if all else failed, she would most certainly die trying.

Jaune and Pyrrha took cover farther up. They exercised more caution and maintained silence. Although, Pyrrha kept an eye on the boy. There was something about him. Granted, he was practically a cliche for teenage boys, but she found herself drawn to him.

Maybe it was the fact that he had brought a sword and shield to a gunfight. Stupidity does tend to draw one's attention. But, Pyrrha decided that these thoughts could wait when they weren't in immediate and mortal danger.

Nora and Ren stuck together and waited. For what, they knew not; but Nora gave her friend a reassuring pat on the shoulder. And, despite having a pistol in his hand, Ren placed his clenched fist on top. They had been through so much, together. The odds of surviving this? Slim. The odds of surviving this with Nora at his side? Ren decided that they would be fine.

The Nevermore wasted no time in seeking out the trespassers. Taking flight from its position on the North, the mighty beast soared overhead to the South.

A brief, albeit enormous, shadow revealed the bird's plan to the hunters. And they watched in awe as the beast corkscrewed straight up and threw out its wings.

"On cra-" was all Jaune could manage before the eight of them fled from their now exposed pockets of cover and scrambled North, towards the ruins.

A storm of feathers struck the ground, but the eight fighters were diligent in their dodging. Although, some were more graceful than others, Jaune noticed as he fell flat on his face, ironically stopping him from running into the razorsharp feather that immediately struck where he would have been, had he not fallen.

A frustrated cry echoed through the air as the creature began to circle around, its next move not yet known to the eight.

"What do we do?!" Yang yelled as they all ran across the dilapidated bridge that connected them to the rest of the ruins.

"We turn the disadvantage into an advantage!" Weiss answered as she quickly analyzed the terrain. "It wants us in the open, so we use that to win the day!"

"How exactly do you plan on doing that?" Blake asked as she and the others exerted themselves in dodging another volley of feathers that came in at a sharper angle. The idea was logically sound, but its application was what Blake found doubt in.

Weiss took aim at the beast and cycled the red dust crystal. "First, we fight back!" She explained as she opened fire, sending a storm of red streams towards the enemy. "Just show the thing that we're not a free meal! Maybe it'll take the hint and just bug off!"

"Sounds good!" Ruby figured as she started to pelt the bird with her heavy caliber rounds.

"Fine with me!" Yang laughed as she started throwing shotgun punches in the bird's general direction.

The others, excluding Jaune, all followed suit. He felt very out of place at that moment.

Growling to itself, the Nevermore continued circling. The prey was not only evading its attempts at removing them, but they were now attacking it, the one who had called this land home for a lifetime.

Of course, any further thoughts were executed when a pink heart grenade went off in its face. Enacting more drastic measures, the creature took a sharp turn and dove in, expanding its wings in an attempt to simply knock the invaders off of their limited movement space.

"Duck!" Weiss yelled as the bird came in for the strike.

It was at that moment that the extended blades came in handy. She, Blake, Ruby and Jaune all evaded the attack and made precision cuts on the underside of the bird's wings as it came crashing through, toppling over the tower that lay in the center of the ruins. Nora even managed to bring the force of her hammer down in full and clip the very edge of the bird's right wing. Yang punched the end of the far left wing. She was Yang Xiao Long, after all.

Needless to say, the creature voiced its unpleasant experience as it flew off.

Switching back to ranged tactics, those who possessed the ability resumed firing on the creature's flank.

"This isn't working!" Yang observed as she loaded fresh shells into her weapons. "Anyone got any better plans?!"

"Ruby!" Weiss asked as she checked her weapon's dust capacity. "If we can get you on that thing, can you make a cut on an artery?!"

"What's the artery?!" Ruby answered her question with a question as she loaded a new mag into Crescent Rose. "Is it like a science-ery?!" she asked with complete seriousness.

Despite the gravity of the situation, Weiss planted her right hand firmly on her face. But, as time was of the essence, she just as quickly removed her hand and instead pointed it towards the massive monster that was coming back for another round of rear-end kicking.

"Just rocket jump when I tell you to, okay?!" she demanded, having sufficiently simplified her plan.

"Um, sure!" Ruby quickly took her position in the middle of the bridge where Weiss pointed to with Myrtenaster. Aiming Crescent Rose at the ground, she awaited the signal.

"What about us?" Blake asked as she loaded a fresh magazine into Gambol Shroud.

"Just keep firing at the thing! Make it mad!" Weiss commanded as she kept glancing back and forth between Ruby and the bird.

Blake had intentions of following the order, but Weiss quickly pulled her aside. "Your weapon has a rope feature, yes?" Weiss asked as she positioned Blake behind Ruby, dangerously close to the edge of the bridge.

Very hesitantly, Blake nodded. She did not like the looks of this plan.

Weiss breathed a sigh of relief. "Okay, when Ruby starts falling, catch her." she explained as she moved back to Ruby's left.

Blake did a doubletake and, for the first time in a very long time, she stared in confusion. But, Weiss had a plan. And she instantly chose to believe that the plan did not involve Ruby's murder. Thus, she stood her ground behind Ruby, and amidst the gunfire from the others, she waited.

The bird closed in on them, planning to make another attempt to sweep them off the bridge. Despite its power, it was a creature of simple thoughts and weapons. It was predictable, and that made for a very great weakness.

"Okay, Ruby! Get ready!" Weiss warned her as she herself braced for what was to come. Cycling light blue dust, she mentally went over the plan one last time. And she smiled. "Everyone else, cease fire!"

Silence filled the air for just a few seconds, gunshots quickly fading. In those few seconds, the mighty creature of Grimm closed the distance.

Expanding its wings, the bird shrieked.

Clutching her weapon, Ruby shrieked.

Weiss fired a massive bolt of light blue dust at the Nevermore's face. The beast probably didn't really know what to think when some magical substance instantly solidified into a massive chunk of ice that consumed the its entire face.

"NOW!" Weiss cried out as she activated her own semblance, forming the iconic snowflake image beneath her.

Simultaneously, Crescent Rose went off; and Ruby went up, somersaulting all the way.

Weiss choosing a more direct approach of simply rocketing forward with her semblance.

Blake watched in awe as Weiss successfully landed on the Nevermore's back, backflipping to what she assumed was her desired spot and promptly used red dust to pierce the monster's hide.

Yang practically drooled at the sight of Ruby falling back down and using Crescent Rose as an ice axe to anchor herself to the creature's back as it flew past the bridge.

The bird began to fly straight up into the air, desperately switching between its wings to claw at its face. It would be difficult to fight off intruders if one could not breath, after all.

Ruby, having realized Weiss's plan by now, began discharging rounds to propel herself down the bird's back with Crescent Rose's blade lodged snugly in its flesh. She was grateful that the creature could not voice its opinion as she essentially unzipped its flesh.

Weiss, having already hitched her ride, clung on to the creature's back with her right hand and fired Myrtnaster's remaining red dust. With the added power, she compensated for a lack of stability in her grip. Given the circumstances, she was able to make a sizable hole in the creature's back.

The others on the ground, however, failed to see the epicness above. But they did find themselves taking a shower in blood. Obeying orders, Blake stood her ground, despite being drenched. Jaune and Pyrrha found themselves with shields that also served as umbrellas.

Whether it was from suffocation, blood loss, or motion sickness, the Nevermore ceased its struggling.

And for just a few brief seconds, Weiss and Ruby looked to each other as everything came to a standstill. Even though they were soaked in blood, the two shared a smile of success. Those smiles quickly vanished when Gravity took over.

Ruby clutched her weapon, as it was the only thing keeping her from falling by herself.

With Myrtenaster lodged in the Nevermore's flesh, Weiss made the split second decision of abandoning her weapon. Every second counted, and that blade wasn't going anywhere.

Instead, She launched herself at Ruby, who was located several feet downwards from her position. Throwing her remaining upper body strength into a hug, she clung to Ruby as the sudden outside force pulled Ruby, and Crescent Rose, away from the Nevermore.

Ruby returned the hug, albeit with a massive scythe in her grasp and an even greater scream in her lungs. .

"NOOO!" Yang made ready to jump over the bridge, not to die with them, but to at least try to save her sister.

But before she could heroically sacrifice herself, Blake fired Gamboul Shroud up to the two girls as the massive body of the Nevermore fell past her and into the still implausibly deep ravine.

The end blade found its way around the two and conveniently tied itself around them. With Crescent Rose in one hand, Ruby managed to maintain her hold on Weiss as everything they had ever done came down to that exact moment.

Seeing what physics would do very, very shortly, Yang scrambled over to Blake and locked her arms around her waist. "Just don't let go!" she pleaded to the girl who now held the two lives in her extended hand.

The others quickly joined in to assist.

Weiss and Ruby fell past Blake, and the rope quickly went taunt.

Blake lurched forward, but she managed to refrain from going over with them, thanks to everyone's added support.

Ruby stopped screaming, and when Death did not take her, she opened her eyes to see eternal blackness with her own rose petals peppered about and slowly descending. For a moment, she was confused.

"Ahem." Weiss coughed.

Ruby felt her chin resting on someone's shoulder. She appeared to have her arms wrapped around Weiss's platonically loving embrace. Her legs were also doing the same thing too. But, she also felt four appendages wrapped around her as well.

"Don't let go," a terrified Ruby managed to squeak.

Sighing, Weiss continued to hold Ruby in a deadlock with both arms and legs. It was hardly becoming of a lady, but then again… a lady wouldn't be fracturing a Nevermore's spine whilst in flight. "Blake is pulling us up, you kno-"

"I SAID DON'T LET GO!" Ruby shrieked as she somehow managed to tighten her already oxygen depriving embrace. "I think I just semblanced myself," she whimpered.

It was through this tightened embrace that Weiss heard the gushy squeeze. Looking down, she saw that Ruby's backside was drenched in blood. She could only assume that the same fate had been cast for herself.

Suppressing the urge to vomit, Weiss simply complied. Spitting out the stray rose petal that had spontaneously appeared from Ruby's semblance, she found herself even care at that point.

The two were pulled back onto the bridge by the combined muscle of Blake, Yang, and the other four. Of course, the two girls were locked in a rather…. intimate position, albeit covered in blood, and it took a few minutes for the others to untangle Gambol Shroud's rope before the girls could be separated.

But even after the lifesaver was removed, Ruby refused to let go of Weiss. The others spent a few additional minutes prying the terrified girl off of the slightly less terrified girl.

As the two finally parted and got to their feet, Weiss briefly mourned the loss of her precious Myrtenaster. But she soon took comfort in knowing that it could easily be replaced with an identical, state-of-the-art model. She also mourned for her ruined combat skirt, an article of clothing that Ruby took great pity on, much to Weiss's surprise.

But, that too, could be replaced with ease. Weiss chose to congratulate and thank everyone for their assistance.

Yang laughed the whole way through. Then she cried and scolded Weiss about endangering her sister's life. Then she laughed and cried.

And Blake was the one with the unfortunate shoulder that Yang chose to soak completely.

.

* * *

.

"Jaune Arc, Nora Valkyrie, Pyrrha Nikos, Lie Ren. The four of you retrieved the white rook pieces." Professor Ozpin revealed as the four stood before him. "From this day forward, you will work together as Team Juniper." he declared as the crowd applauded the proud four.

Of course, with Nora being Nora, she simply could not contain her joy of working alongside Ren and displayed this honest joy by hugging him gently. The young man was too shocked at her complacency to hug back immediately.

"Led by Jaune Arc." Ozpin added with a knowing smirk on his face. "Congratulations, young man." he offered with bemused sincerity.

Despite the boy's total shock and bewilderment, Pyrrha felt happy for her newly declared leader, and she showed this happiness by giving him a playful punch to the shoulder. Jaune Arc quickly became familiar with the very fine quality of marble that Beacon used for their floors. Pyrrha quickly became familiar with her leader's lack of… tolerance.

And the ceremony quickly drew to its end.

"Finally, Blake Belladonna, Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, and Yang Xiao Long."

The four girls stepped up as Team JNPR stepped down.

"The four of you retrieved the white knight pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team Ruby."

The crowd started to clap, but they quickly realized for whom they knew not.

"Led by…" Ozpin paused for dramatic effect. His job, while interesting at times, could be very monotonous, and so he waited just a few more agonizing seconds before revealing the leader.

"Weiss Schnee."

The crowd roared with applause, cheer, and the scattered whistle.

"Just to clarify, that's Team WRBY." the professor added with a smirk as he adjusted his glasses. "It looks like this year is going to be a very… interesting year." he commented to himself as all other sounds were consumed by the crowd.

Weiss, out of sheer practice and almost instinct, moved to face the crowd.

And she curtsied.

The crowd exploded with excitement.

It was at that moment that Weiss realized that it was more likely her celebrity status, not her recent feat of monster slaying, that was winning her applause.

But, that did not matter. Weiss had had suffered many grievances in her brief existence, and she would be sure to not let any of Destiny's grace go to waste. For now, Weiss would drink aplenty of her success. And very soon, she would see to the magnificent future that surely awaited her and her newly acquired teammates.

Weiss Schnee had studied for this. She had trained for this. She was ready to fight, claw, and bite for this.

This moment marked the end of her old life, and it also marked the beginning of her new future.

This was the day that Weiss Schnee had waited for.


	2. One Huntress's Badge

The first thing that Weiss Schnee noticed was a different feel to her bed. Cracking her eyes open, she noticed the plain, white ceiling. And then she remembered that it was a school bed she was sleeping on, and that this was a dorm room that she was sleeping in. The comfort of slumber was slowly wearing off, and reality was fading into existence.

Her envelope of warmth finally came unsealed as she forced herself to throw the covers off. A morning person, she simply was not. Weiss grunted as she swung her legs over the right side of her bed. Surely the world would not begrudge her a few additional hours of sleep.

"Goood MORNING!" Ruby Rose immediately shouted directly in her ear.

Weiss Schnee was no longer in need of sleep. Clutching her heart, she collapsed to the floor "WHAT in the world are you doing?!" she shrieked as she scrambled to her feet.

Looking like a puppy that wanted to go outside, Ruby quickly explained, "Now that you're awake, Team WRBY can begin its first official order of business!"

Weiss gawked at the younger girl. The current time was unknown to her, but she was quite sure that any time was too early to be dealing with Ruby. As such, she could only mutter, "Excuse me?"

"Decorating!" Yang immediately answered with a tone of absolute giddy. The massive pile of assorted, decorative goods in her arms was a dead giveaway.

"What?" was, again, all the leader could ask.

"Granted, you had us unpack our essentials as soon as we were assigned our room," Blake recalled as she heaped up her own suitcase. "But we still have to unpack our other things."

The suitcase immediately came undone, spilling its contents all over the floor. "...And clean," she added with reluctance.

"Never again will I be the last one up," Weiss muttered below her breath. Thankfully, her brain was now fully awake, and it reminded her that they had more important tasks to see completed.

"Okay, team!" She clapped her hands and making herself the center of attention. "We need to talk!"

Weiss began with a morning strength that no one could have foreseen her possessing. "Today is the day we have waited for. Today is the day we begin our journey to the top. Today is the day we-"

"Decorate?" Yang asked, raising her hand and smiling with hope.

"Turn our beds into bunk beds?!" Ruby practically shrieked with excitement.

"THAT WOULD BE SUPER AWESOME!" Yang totally shrieked as she and her sister jumped with joy.

Weiss glared at the two interlopers for the interruption. "No."

Yang pouted as she slouched, completely demoralized. But, Blake gave her a pat on the shoulder, so she had that going for her which was nice.

"Bunk beds would be efficient," Blake quietly offered in condolence for the fallen idea.

"Today we start our classes at Beacon," Weiss finally finished. "And that means no more fooling around," she deliberately explained while glaring at Ruby.

Ruby averted her gaze. She felt guilty, but that gaze certainly implied otherwise.

Weiss looked expectantly at her teammates. "Who here wants to be the best?"

Her cohorts naturally raised their hands.

Weiss observed, "But we only have four years to become the best. Do you think we can afford to waste time?"

The three looked amongst each other before begrudgingly admitting, "No, Weiss."

Finally, they understood. Weiss smiled. "Then let's not waste a single second!" she declared as she reached under her bed and removed a binder. Opening up its contents, Weiss flipped to the desired page.

"Our first class is at nine," she reminded the team as she looked to the clock. "That give us forty minutes to get ready."

Yang and Ruby sighed in defeat, taking a seat on the bed opposite Weiss's. They somehow knew that this was going to take a while.

Blake chose to stand, very curious as to how Weiss intended to lead.

Weiss didn't plan to disappoint. "And we have two additional classes at one and four. Luckily, this is the first week, so we probably won't get a full workload to complete."

Ruby and Yang lit up.

Weiss immediately finished, "So that will give us extra time to hone our combat skills."

Ruby and Yang burned out.

"And since we're going to be spending the next four years here…" Weiss closed the binder and stood up. "Any questions?"

Yang raised her hand. "Can we deco-"

"NO!" Weiss immediately answered. Her frustration with the girl's incessant desire to decorate was absolutely astounding. "As team leader, I order you to stop whining about that!"

Yang grimace, but she held her tongue. Even she understood the consequences of disobeying a leader's orders. But, she began to realize that the three of them may have picked the wrong chess pieces.

Sighing, Weiss located her school uniform at the foot of her bed. She took it up in exchange for her binder. "There is nothing wrong with the way things are now." Heading to the bathroom, she stated, "I'm going to change. Then, we'll have breakfast, and then we'll spend the remaining time familiarizing ourselves with the basic layout of the campus."

The bathroom door closed, and the three other girls were left their own devices.

Blake began picking up her suitcase's contents. "So much for fun," she muttered with a smirk. Their leader was definitely firm, but she had confidence that Weiss would also be fair.

"Stupid ice queen," Yang spat beneath her breath as she placed a reassuring arm around her younger sister. "And we're stuck with her for the next four years, too."

"She can be nice," Ruby explained to Yang as she returned the embrace. "I just hope she'll be nice more than she's mean."

"If she were mean in a sexy way, I might not mind so much…" Yang trailed off with a daydreamer's grin.

Ruby sighed. Looking up to see Blake's puzzled expression, she answered the unspoken question. "Yes, she'll do that. A lot."

Rolling her eyes, Blake smirked as she put her suitcase back beneath her bed. This was going to be an interesting four years, if nothing else.

* * *

The lecture began as the professor gave information that sounded more like the kind one would give to a TV show audience, but Weiss took notes regardless of her present knowledge of the world.

Ruby, however, soon grew reckless. The situation quickly worsened as the professor engaged in a story that held little relevance to Grimm. The girl proceeded to draw a profound doodle mocking the teacher that Yang found amusing.

Weiss, having to sit between the two sisters, chose to firmly place a hand on each of their legs, firmly gripping them to convey her message of "Be quiet or they'll never find your body." Being called out in front of a class was one of the last things that Weiss wanted to be subjected to, and she would personally see to the destruction of her betrayers if that fear became a reality.

The two quickly silenced themselves, as if they somehow sensed Weiss's burning ire. They exercised caution, albeit with great reluctance and discontent.

"The moral of the story?" Professor Port asked rhetorically.

Weiss immediately realized that she had tuned the entire tale. Desperately grabbing her pen and paper, she could only hope that it wouldn't be on a test.

"A true huntsman must be honorable. A true huntsman must be dependable. A true huntsman must be strategic, well educated, and wise!" he explained with passion. "So, who among you sees themselves to the be embodiment of these traits?"

Pen abandoned, Weiss's hand shot into the air without delay. "I do, sir!" she boldly proclaimed.

Professor Port raised an eyebrow with an amused smirk. "Do you now?" he challenged. At the snap of his fingers, another professor, entered with tremendous speed and an equally massive cage.

What Weiss found more peculiar was this professor's green hair and what appeared to be a severe addiction to coffee. Depositing the cage, he made his exit as swiftly as he had entered; so she did not dwell on the matter for very long.

The class didn't have to wait long for the showdown to commence.

Weiss approached, dressed in her combat skirt and brandishing Myrtenaster. She came with overwhelming confidence that she believed was well placed. She had executed a Deathstalker and orchestrated the slaying of a fully grown Nevermore; this was certainly going to be an easy task in comparison. Idly cycling the dust cylinder, she stood ready for the fight to begin.

"Gooo Weiss!" Yang yelled in support. Maybe the girl would calm herself after a good fight.

"Fight well!" Blake added while waving a Team WRBY flag. It was a comical piece of advertisement, if nothing else.

"Yeah! Represent Teeeam WRBY!" Ruby cheered, shooting her arms into the air.

Weiss disregarded the distractions. As team leader, it would surely behoove her to allow her cohorts to advertise her combat prowess. By all the standards of toleration, Ruby was definitely aggravating; but Weiss remembered once more that patience would be the key to her success.

"Let the match… BEGIN!" Professor Port announced as he cut the lock off of the cage with his axe.

The creature of Grimm, a tusked boar, was hideous. Curved tusks and razor sharp teeth shone in the light. Now completely free of its cage, the animal charged towards Weiss.

Timing her strike, she waited just before the creature impaled her. Sidestepping the beast as it flew by, Weiss executed a simple, horizontal slash. But it proved ineffective; the creature simply continued past her.

"Aha!" the professor observed with a smirk. "Wasn't expecting that now, were you?"

Weiss suppressed the urge to tell the fat bloke to shut his piehole. Instead, she focused on the creature's followup charge.

The thing had teeth, tusks, and tough armor; that was it. She couldn't penetrate the armor; dust wasn't allowed to be discharged in a classroom. If she was going to successfully stab the creature, she would need to get it on its back.

"Hang in there, Weiss!" Ruby obnoxiously yelled, causing Weiss's eye to twitch as she activated her semblance and rocketed forward.

For a creature that was supposed to have animal intelligence, it not only disrupted Weiss's charge, but it managed to catch hold of Myrtenaster with its teeth and tusks.

As she landed on her feet, Weiss found herself in a tug of war for her weapon with a hideous boar. And to her even greater disgust, she was actually losing.

The professor made some babbling remarks about the situation, and Weiss only managed to make an even greater mess of things when Ruby felt the need to throw in her own advice.

"C'mon, Weiss! Show it who's boss!"

Out of overwhelming frustration, Weiss turned her attention away from her enemy with the intent of glaring at the girl.

The creature of Grimm, once again exceeding expectations, threw all of its strength into separating its enemy from the weapon.

Cold steel clanged as Myrtenaster landed on the other side of the room. Weiss found herself in a similar position as the creature's tusks smashed into her torso.

"Oho! Now what will you do without your weapon?"

Weiss tucked and rolled, missing the creature's charge by inches and inadvertently sending it headfirst into the desks.

This wasn't supposed to be happening. She had executed a Deathstalker and slain a Nevermore; this was just a classroom demonstration. The creature posed no real threat, otherwise it would have already been killed! Weiss was losing to a creature that wasn't even supposed to be alive.

And she absolutely despised it.

Getting to her feet, Weiss scrambled towards her weapon.

"Weiss!" Ruby shouted again. "Go for its belly! There's no armor underne-"

All of the leader's anger finally boiled over. Ignoring the more obvious threat, Weiss turned her full attention on the insufferable girl who plagued her concentration. "Stop telling me what to do!"

Ruby immediately shut up. She only wanted to help.

Yang did not appreciate anyone being mean to her sister.

Blake observed both sides involved. Personal experience had taught her that this had to be stopped, or the whole team would fall apart.

The boar initiated a very bizarre attack of tucking itself into a ball and rapidly accelerating towards Weiss with all intentions of colliding into her.

This, she would not allow. Weiss had not come this far to die in a classroom; or worse, be saved by Professor Port and publicly humiliated for not being able to kill a pathetic specimen of the Grimm.

And in the few final seconds, with her entire future at stake, Weiss focused her aura and unleashed a double semblance pattern, one in front of her expelling positive energy to stop the creature dead in its tracks, and one above her expelling negative energy. It gave Weiss the upper angle she needed to ram Myrtenaster straight into the beast's stomach.

The beast collided with her barrier and fell flat on its back. Weiss launched herself onto her second semblance pattern and used more of her aura to turn the negative energy into positive energy, allowing her to be shot forward with Myrtenaster leading the charge.

Her last ditch plan paid off, and her blade found its way into the creature's gut, killing it on the spot. Ruby, Blake, and Yang sat awestruck at their leader's maneuver. One's aura was directly correlated with one's ability to fight. Using so much in one move was beyond risky.

"Bravo! BraVO!" Professor Port proclaimed as he stood in satisfaction. "It would appear that we are indeed in the presence of a true huntress in training!"

Gasping for air, Weiss struggled to stand as she pulled Myrtenaster from the filthy creature. But, despite her current state, Weiss's fury overcame her. Brandishing her blade, she pointed it directly at Ruby.

"You will become a magnificent huntress whether you like it or NOT!"

Weiss's words echoed through the classroom. Nobody really knew what to do with themselves.

Ruby herself wanted to shrink up into nothingness.

Yang scowled. She was just about ready to knock their leader's teeth out.

"Class dismissed," Professor Port curtly announced. "Miss Schnee, may I have a word with you?"

Using a handkerchief to dry Myrtenaster, Weiss nodded. "Of course, sir." But Weiss mentally groaned. She didn't want to get into a fight with the man who gave her the grade.

The class filed out far more swiftly than it had come in. Ruby hesitated to leave Weiss, despite all that had transpired. Yang would have none of it, and she pulled Ruby out of the room.

"Professor Port," Weiss began as she sheathed Myrtenaster. "This is about Ruby, isn't it?" The matter seemed quite black and white to her. She saw no reason to have a debate about it.

"Indeed, Miss Schnee." The man sighed with discontent. "I can't help but notice that you are rather harsh to the poor girl."

This, Weiss found absolutely preposterous. "Poor girl?! Didn't you see us during yesterday's battle, sir?! She helped me kill a Nevermore! She is capable of being a brilliant huntress!"

Port had heard similar words many times from many students before the girl who stood before him now. He knew where it was going, and he knew exactly how to deal with it. "Buuut?"

"But she's so childish! Immature!" Weiss growled in frustration, "She's stuck with me for the next four years, and I want her to be the very best she can be."

"And what about Ruby?" Port was confident that this would play out exactly like all of the other times. It was the way of the harsher leaders, after all.

Weiss blinked. A few seconds passed before she asked with uncertainty, "What about Ruby?"

The professor smiled. Things would be just fine for Team WRBY. "Up 'til now, you've only stated what you want. What do you think Ruby wants?"

Weiss fell silent. "I don't… I don't know, sir," she admitted as she looked down at the floor.

"Do you think she wants to spend the next four years being yelled at?"

Many dark memories of her childhood tried to claw their way into Weiss's brain. She kept herself in check and reminded herself that being yelled at was something one could get used to.

"No, sir." Weiss shivered ever so slightly. Her father was bad, but the faunus made him what he was to her.

"Precisely." Thanks to his many years of experience, Professor Port offered, "Maybe she would be more inclined to do what you asked if you gave her the confidence and trust that one normally gives to a teammate."

Weiss balked at the sheer notion. "That girl hasn't earned the bed she sleeps on, much less my trust!" She never thought that a professor of Beacon could lose his marbles, but it seemed like Port's had been shot into space.

"And you aren't a real huntress yet," he reminded her. "But I extended a great amount of trust to you in allowing you to fight with a creature of Grimm within the confines of my own classroom."

Weiss felt the last of her patience vanish. "That was just a pathetic swine! It's not like you had me fight one of Those Who Fell!"

Professor Port fell silent for an uncomfortably long time. "Miss Schnee, what is one of Those Who Fell?"

The girl eyed him curiously. She hesitated but did reply, "A weak human or faunus gets taken by Grimm and turned into a hybrid of the two races." To emphasize her superiority, she added, "They are rare, but they can be killed."

Professor Port took in a sharp breath. "Miss Schnee," he muttered, trying to keep his temper under control. "Those Who Fell are not another animal to be killed. Those Who Fell are a sad product of the twisted evil that is Grimm."

Weiss was taken aback at the man's sudden outburst.

He practically growled, "You will show them pity, not disdain."

The girl disagreed, but she held her tongue.

"Now," he continued as he adjusted his tie. "If being rude and arrogant to your team doesn't work, perhaps it would behoove you to try a more compassionate approach."

Weiss did agree with those words, however. She wanted her team to respect her, not fear her. "What would you have me do?," she asked with skepticism.

Port smiled. Now, things were getting on the right track. "First, you might want to show them that you are serious about gaining their respect. What's something that they want?"

Weiss paused, and she recalled the morning's conversations. "They want bunk beds," she answered. "I could convert their beds into bunk beds."

Port nodded. "That sounds like a wonderful idea, Miss Schnee!"

Weiss finally smiled. Perhaps she had over complicated the situation. "I will… be a better teammate and leader," she decided. "I will extend my trust to all three of them. They will help me to be better, and I'll help them to be better."

"I'll hold you to your word," Port informed her as he patted her shoulder. "Now, I think you have some bunk beds to build?"

* * *

"I'm gonna break her legs," Yang growled as she, Blake, and Ruby left their leader behind and headed down the hallway.

"Yang, you're hurting me," Ruby whined as she struggled to pull away from Yang's grasp.

"Ack, sorry." Yang immediately let go of her sister and pulled her into a hug. "I won't let that brat boss you around, don't worry."

It was Blake who offered a more peaceful solution. "It would be wiser for us to appeal to-"

"Professor Ozpin!" Yang and Ruby shouted simultaneously as the man with his cane came strolling around the corner.

"Team WRBY," Ozpin greeted them with a bow. "I see that the three of you are in good health, but where is your leader?"

Yang scowled. Ruby looked down at the ground. Blake remained discontent.

"Ah." Ozpin sipped his coffee. "I take it she's getting on your nerves?"

"I'm just warning you, sir," Yang courteously notified him. "If she winds up with broken legs, it's because she earned them."

Ozpin smirked. "I'm sure of that, but I doubt things will boil over so violently."

"What makes you say that?" Blake asked with genuine curiosity. Weiss seemed to be digging herself into a rather deep grave.

"Port and I have been doing this for quite a while now, Miss Belladonna." Ozpin paused to take another sip of his coffee, before he explained, "He has to talk to students from time to time about proper leadership."

"Sir," Ruby spoke up, instantly drawing everyone else's attention. Ruby wavered before continuing, "Weiss seems like she knows what she's doing, but she's being kind of…"

Ruby hated to speak ill of people, but it was at this moment that she could find no other options. Honesty was what she needed right now.

"Mean," she finished with disdain.

"But there must be a peaceful solution to this disruption," Blake offered with reassurance. She had suffered enough strife before Beacon. She didn't want a repeat of the past.

"If I know Port's plan, he's probably asking her what you want." Ozpin revealed to the team, "You'll find Weiss in a more compassionate mood, and I recommend that the three of you accept your leader's new attitude with open arms."

Yang grimaced. "Will it be that easy, sir?"

Ozpin shook his head. "No, it will not, Miss Long. Miss Schnee will have to work hard to lead the three of you, and the three of you will have to work hard at following her."

The three looked downtrodden.

"But if the four of you agree to work together," Ozpin began as he smiled with understanding. "I am confident that the four of you will-"

Glynda Goodwitch rounded the corner with haste and urgently tapped her cohort on the shoulder. "Oz, there's been a development."

"You're sure?" Ozpin turned around and quickly gave the woman his coffee in exchange for her Scroll. Quickly scanning through whatever was on the screen, he groaned. "This is true?"

Grimacing, Glynda nodded with a heavy heart. "We still haven't found Her. If someone saw her in the forest, they didn't partner with her," she muttered.

The three girls looked to one another with concern.

Ozpin sighed. "Very well." Turning back to the girls, he curtly offered an apology. "I have important matters to content with, ladies. But I still advise you to accept whatever Weiss offers to you with open arms."

With that, Ozpin and Glynda quickly left the scene, leaving the three to return to their dorm.

* * *

Ruby, Blake, and Yang entered their room to find a most peculiar sight.

The beds were in complete disarray. The blankets had been thrown into a corner, and the mattresses were unceremoniously left at their side. The wooden frames were stacked in the middle, and Weiss Schnee was in the very center of the chaos.

A hammer and screwdriver were in her hands. Upside down.

"Oh," was all Weiss muttered as she realized that her team had walked in on her. Placing the tools on the ground, she started collecting the contents of a dropped nail box. "Watch your step," she warned as she continued working.

"Weiss?" Ruby cautiously asked as she began to pick up nails that had found their way to the edges of their room. "What are you doing?"

"...Interior decorating," she answered as she continued to collect the dropped contents.

"More like interior desecrating!" Yang corrected with a smug grin and offered Blake a fistbump.

Rolling her eyes, Blake bumped the girl back, much to Yang's joy.

"Fine," Weiss sighed in defeat. Looking her team in the eye, she honestly proclaimed, "I screwed up. I was unnecessarily forceful to you, Ruby."

Ruby returned Weiss's gaze. "Okay?" She wasn't sure what Professor Port could have possibly said to her, but whatever he said… it was working.

"No, it's not okay." Weiss finished dropping the nails back into their box and plopped down on the floor. "I'm the leader; I should be able to lead without sacrificing the respect of my team." Head in her hands, she groaned in frustration. "I screwed up."

"And destroying our room will fix your mistake… how, exactly?" Yang asked as she picked up some crumpled papers that held equations of weight distribution. Oddly advanced, in her opinion.

"You three wanted bunk beds," Weiss reminded them. "And to be completely honest, I always wanted bunk beds as a kid." Granted, she wanted them more so that she could have a sibling, a friend. she wasn't nearly as interested in what kind of bed they would sleep in. But, they didn't need to know that.

"I'm going to be the best leader you three will ever have," she boldly proclaimed as she took up her tools. Still upside down. "And I'm starting with the bunk beds!"

Blake and Yang were at a loss for words. In a matter of hours, Weiss had been shown the flaws in her ideology, and she had chosen to correct them for the sake of those whom she was to lead. It was a very selfless act of honor; and Blake was especially drawn the the girl's humility.

"Aaaw!" Ruby quickly dropped the nails back into their box. Kneeling beside her leader, Ruby threw her arms around the older girl. "You really DO care!"

Weiss set her tools down and returned the hug, even though she wasn't one for physical contact. In the past, it had usually been a strike made out of anger. But now, it was a hug given out of compassion.

Compassion… was something that Weiss would have to get used to. Both giving and receiving would require an effort to be made on her part. And, as team leader, Weiss would make that effort.

But first, she had to build some bunk beds, and her team eagerly set about in helping her.

In the final years of her life, Blake Belladonna herself would eagerly recall the pivotal moment of her history and the time that followed after it.

* * *

_"True to her word, Weiss wasted no time in proving herself. She exercised compassion, rather than complaint; although, it was still difficult to do so with Ruby. Yang and I were easily won over by her new attitude, but Ruby still struggled to follow Weiss's leadership. Luckily, our leader quickly found a solution._

_"She realized that Ruby was far more concerned with the welfare of her teammates, rather than her own self. And so, when Ruby broke one of Beacon's rule, no eating in class, Weiss ordered all of Team WRBY to withdraw our lunches and deliberately feast in the middle of the lecture. Ruby's protest was ignored by Weiss, and the three of us joined in the meal._

_"As the four of us were sent to detention, Weiss explained to Ruby that if one of us succeeded, all of us would be there to share the success; and if one of us failed, we would all still be there to share the failure._

_"Ruby didn't step out of line after that. Her impulsive nature was soon replaced with one of complacency, care, and diligence. Although she did retain her charisma and vitality, which Weiss gladly welcomed._

_"So with all three of us willingly following Weiss, she focused next on the task of balancing study hours with training hours. It took a few weeks, but she finally found the most efficient regiment for us to study, work, train, and rest. It took only one week for her to realize that she needed to add 'fun' into the mix; but when she did, she did so with great speed. I am still rather amused at how we not only accepted the brutal schedule, but we learned to love it._

_"And the weeks flew by. We honed our skills on the battlefield and in the classroom. Weiss studied our weapons and styles of combat extensively, and she used our own input to forge many techniques. We practiced a multitude of strategies that involved all of us, one of us, two of us, and three of us. We even learned our way around each other's weapons. I still recall nearly dislocating my arm with Yang's gauntlets, but it all payed off. When we went out for live action, we easily outshone the other teams; and we did the same within the classroom._

_"When our first exams came back with perfect marks for all four of us, Weiss became so proud that she had a team standard crafted and delivered to our dorm. It was a snowflake, one that resembled her own Semblance, but it displayed the colors of white, red, black, and yellow; rather than the ice blue that I normally saw. It was crafted to the end of a retractable pole that, when extended to its max, towered several feet above us._

_"Weiss was especially proud of Ruby, who had to work the hardest to achieve her greatness; so much so, that Weiss gave Ruby the substantially heavy honor of carrying the thing whenever we marched together. Whether it was on campus or in town, we walked together; and Ruby carried the standard. Ruby quickly built up her upper body strength._

_"Weiss was, if nothing else, determined. Determined to be the best, or to show off, I still do not know; but I admired that determination, even when personal conflicts interfered. And when those conflicts boiled over, she used that same determination to win the day."_


	3. Black and Fight

The apartment complexes of downtown Vale were covered in banners that welcomed all to the Northeastern portion of Vytal. Balloons of red, yellow, and green were tied to every lamppost and blew in the gentle breeze. Flags of the same colors were draped above the streets at identical intervals. Unimportant people bustled to and fro the shops that offered refreshments and souvenirs of all kinds.

Even in such a docile setting, Team WRBY walked ready for anything. It was second nature for them at this point. Weiss led in front with Myrtenaster at her side. Blake, having been made second-in-command of the team, walked behind on Weiss's left side. Yang brought up her leader's right side.

And Ruby Rose, the one who had worked the hardest to earn her spot on the team, walked directly behind her leader and carried the Team's newly manufactured Standard, an object that symbolized Weiss's pride for her team.

It was a snowflake, one identical to Weiss's semblance symbol; but it bore the colors of white, red, black, and yellow instead of the cyan that Weiss's semblance produced. Extended to its maximum, the Standard towered several feet above them, making it quite a task to wield the heavy advertisement.

Luckily, Ruby already possessed upper body strength from wielding Crescent Rose, so wielding something of similar weight was a walk in the park for her.

"Ah, the Vytal Festival!" Weiss practically squealed with glee. As her three cohorts followed her down the street, she joyfully proclaimed, "This is absolutely wonderful!"

Yang was not nearly as amused. "And yet, we're on our way to the smelly docks."

That gentle breeze blew in from said docks, making Ruby balk at the smell of fish. "Ble~agh," she commented as she stuck out her tongue. The standard took two hands to wield, so she couldn't hold her nose.

"Then we'll just have to trust our leader," Blake offered with a smirk. She was rather fond of fish. Taking a wistful whiff, she sighed with content as they continued their stroll. The docks never bothered her, anyway.

"As your team leader, it is my responsibility to ensure that the three of you are given the greatest chance at succeeding," Weiss quickly explained as the walked alongside the harbor.

Blake found her leader to be a bad liar. "We're spying on the competition," she clarified for the two confused sisters.

Throwing her hair back, Weiss continued to walk. "Don't be so vulgar, Blake."

"Woah." Ruby stopped walking, causing the others to look down the street and take in the sight of a crime scene. Breaking their diamond formation, Ruby indulged her curiosity and approached the two police officers at the scene.

"What happened here?" she asked as she rested the bottom of the Standard's pole on the ground.

Snorting, the bearded officer took in the sight of a small girl holding a giant, multi-colored snowflake on a stick. "Robbery," he answered. "Second dust shop to be hit this week." Before turning back to the scene, he nervously requested, "Watch where ya swing dat thing, ma'am."

Frowning, Yang remarked, "That's terrible."

"Dey left all da mon~ay 'n lien!" the second officer stated as he clutched his suspenders, looking very discontent with the situation.

"Just doesn't make a lick 'a sense," the first agreed. "Who needs dat much dust, y'know what I mean? You thinkin' the White Fang?" he consulted with his partner.

Taking off his sunglasses, the second went off on his own tangent. "Yeah, I'm thinkin' we don't get paid enough."

Scoffing, Weiss crossed her arms. "What an awful bunch of degenerates," she remarked as she held her head up in superiority.

"What's your problem?" Blake asked with a frown. Her leader's superiority complex had become clear when they began to bond, but Weiss had always kept it to herself.

"I simply don't care for the criminally insane," Weiss curtly answered as she turned to face her second-in-command. Blake's attitude was not unusual. Weiss put up with those who disagreed; but she didn't want someone so close to her to be a threat.

Blake cautiously objected, "They're just a group of misguided faunus."

"Misguided?!" Weiss practically gawked at the ludicracy. "They want to wipe humanity off the face of the planet!"

"So then they're  
misguided," Blake reluctantly conceded. "Either way, it doesn't explain why they would rob a dust shop in the middle of Downtown Vale."

"Blake's got a point," Ruby piped up as she adjusted her grip on the Team's towering Standard. "They never did catch that Torchwick guy I ran into a few months ago."

Turning her attention back to the shattered glass and destroyed interior of the shop, she offered, "Maybe it was him."

Weiss remained unconvinced of her superiority. "That still doesn't change the fact that the White Fang are a bunch of scum. Those faunus only know how to lie, cheat, and steal!" she flatly stated. Although, Weiss did feel uneasy with all three of her teammates disagreeing.

Blake's urge to slap the spoiled brat skyrocketed.

"That's not necessarily true," Yang tried to explain as she felt tension rising. But, her efforts were interrupted by an untimely counter argument.

"Hey! Stop that faunus!" a distressed sailor cried out from across the street.

Weiss quickly returned to the dock with her cohorts behind her in formation. The took in the sight of a blonde figure dressed in jeans and an unbuttoned white shirt readying himself for a jump off the ship.

"Thanks for the ride, boys!" he laughed before making the jump onto the wooden tier below.

"You nogood stowaway!" another sailor shouted at the fleeing fugitive.

His response was as bizarre as it was sarcastic. Using a golden yellow tail, he hung himself upside down from a lamppost and began to feast on a banana.

Weiss growled in disgust at the sight before her. "Typical animal," she muttered.

The monkey man made some mischievous remark about being a great stowaway before the two police officers took to the scene.

"Hey!" the bearded officer called out as he and his partner approached the suspect. "Get down from der dis instant!"

The monkey man's response was to introduce the banana to officer's face. The officer was not pleased. However, before he could voice his displeasure, the faunus leapt over them and bolted, causing the two officers to give chase.

Team WRBY watched as he quickly came upon their position.

Weiss refused to tolerate it.

"Ruby." Pointing to the oncoming stowaway, she commanded, "Stop him."

Black hair whipped in the air as Blake did a doubletake. Surely her ears had played a cruel joke on her.

Conditioned to obey, Ruby stepped forward. "Consider it done!" she reassured her leader as she repositioned her hand placement on the Standard and prepared herself to swing.

Grabbing her partner by the shoulders, Yang pulled the two of them down. "DUUUCK!"

Weiss immediately crouched, making sure to keep a hand on Myrtenaster.

As the faunus came forward, he found himself wondering why a giant snowflake of four colors was getting bigger.

Then, it hit him. Squarely in the face.

The sound of skull colliding with metal echoed through the air as the faunus landed the ground.

Ruby spun 'round to face him, unsure if one hit would suffice.

He shot one hand up into the sky. "I! AM! The Monkey Masta~a~e~or!" The hand fell back down on the ground as the poor man fell into unconsciousness.

Cheers and applause erupted from those who were able to catch sight of the action.

Blake shivered with disbelief. Her eyes twitched as they slowly processed what had just transpired.

"Nice one, ma'am!" the first officer yelled as he and his cohort arrived at the scene.

The second officer quickly outlined the unconscious faunus in chalk.

Looking to her leader for confirmation, Ruby assumed her stance and held the Team Standard high above her head. "Weiss?" she asked with hesitance.

Weiss stood tall and proud. "You were perfect, Ruby!" she congratulated the girl with a pat on the shoulder. "Absolutely perfect!" she repeated with a brilliant smile.

Ruby practically squealed with delight.

Yang awkwardly chuckled. "Yeah, sis…" she trailed off, looking on as the two officers took a leg of the faunus and began to drag him away, head bumping along the pavement. "Way to... go."

"No!" Blake stepped forward. "No! This is not perfect!"

Getting in the middle of the three girls, Blake chose to finally let her furry be known. "Ruby!" she yelled, pointing her finger directly in the girl's face. "You knocked that poor man unconscious! And for what?! Because Weiss told you to?!"

Turning to Weiss, Blake continued, "And how DARE you for abusing your power! That man did NOTHING to you! You had no right to issue that order! You're just a spoiled, little girl with a superiority complex!"

Weiss studied her accuser. This matter had to be handled delicately, or the whole team could fall apart. Weiss had spent her whole life training to lead a team; she was NOT about to let it slip through her fingers.

Ruby looked to her sister for guidance.

"Look, maybe we should split up and do stuff on our own?" Yang suggested as she brought Ruby into a hug. It was one-way, though; Ruby still held the Standard.

Weiss analyzed the situation. This was a problem that seemed to run deep for Blake. Perhaps Blake was a faunus? No, she had been sharing a room with three other girls for nearly four months now. If Blake was a faunus, the secret would surely have made itself known.

"We could," Weiss considered as she returned Blake's glare. "But there's a dust shipment coming in from Atlas," Weiss explained. "Ninety-seven crates of Schnee quality dust from one of our stripmines."

Blake raised an eyebrow. "What's your point?" she inquired.

"It'll be here in two days," Weiss continued. "When it arrives, we could stakeout. If the White Fang doesn't try to rob my family for the millionth time, I will concede to you."

Blake paused. "...But if they show up, then I'm wrong?" she asked. She already knew the answer.

Weiss nodded.

Blake sighed. The thought of being in a constant struggle against her leader for the next four years was not appealing to Blake. At least, with this, there was a chance. "I accept your terms."

Weiss smiled. "Excellent. Don't slander me ever again," she ordered before bidding her comrades go their own ways. Weiss had scouting to do, and she knew that her cohorts could use time for themselves.

The time to prove herself would come shortly. 

* * *

"Mey, Wuby?" Yang asked in a muffled tone.

"Wah, Yhangha?" Ruby asked in an equally muffled tone.

Yang swallowed the last bite of her sandwich, the rations that Weiss had prepared for the team's stakeout. "Sweet lord, that's terrible," Yang muttered as she shook her head. But, food was food.

Inhaling the crisp night air, she asked her younger sister, "You ever wonder why we're here?"

Ruby threw her uneaten half of her sandwich off the building that they were camped out on. "Sometimes," Ruby admitted as she picked at her teeth, desperately trying to get the tuna and mayo remains out.

"We must never tell her," Ruby deadpanned, motioning towards their sleeping leader.

"Oh, absolutely." Yang nodded as she leaned against a chimney duct. "Ugh, we've been here since the dust came in five hours ago."

"Yeah," Ruby grunted as she examined her compact Crescent Rose for the millionth time out of boredom. "On the bright side, the days of awkwardness can finally come to an end, one way or the other."

Yang sighed. Blake had been practically jumping at Weiss's throat for the past two days. And Yang hated for Ruby to be caught in the middle of it. On one hand, Yang was glad to see that Ruby was becoming a great huntress, and she owed it all to Weiss. On the other hand, Ruby had essentially assaulted someone, a person because someone thought he was inferior.

She was all for equality, but she didn't get to tell Weiss to can the bad attitude. Weiss was her leader, not her equal. What could she do? Granted, if Weiss laid a finger on Ruby, she'd lose all of her teeth; but the fact remained that the two sisters were caught in a strong disagreement.

And for all her strength, smarts, and charisma, Yang didn't know what she and Ruby could do if the conflict wasn't resolved peacefully. Blake was right, but Weiss was the leader.

She looked over the dock where the shipment had been placed. Ninety-seven crates full of Schnee dust were stacked and just begging to be stolen. If the White Fang wanted to act, they'd have to come in and grab it before the dust got distributed tomorrow.

"Hey," Ruby murmured, drawing Yang's attention. "Midnight," she declared as she held up her watch. "Our shift is over," she proclaimed with fatigued satisfaction.

Yang smiled. Maybe some sleep would help. "Great. Let's wake up the Ice Queen."

The two sisters moved to wake their superiors.

However, a sudden and strong, hair-whipping wind picked up and did the job for them. Weiss drew Myrtenaster as she jumped to her feet. Blake had Gambol Shroud at the ready, and the two stared in awe as a military grade airship came flying in.

"Uh-oh," Ruby muttered as she unlocked Crescent Rose. It had the same aura burns as the one Roman had used.

The four girls crouched at the edge of the building and observed the shrill engines of the gunship powering down as the vessel touched down in the middle of the loading dock.

Blake felt her soul being crushed when she saw a figure dressed with a red wolf's insignia emerge from the ship. "No…"

She didn't want to see. She didn't want it to be them.

"As I expected," Weiss grunted, idly cycling Myrtenaster's dust crystal cylinder. "Animals."

"Alright, grab the tow cables!" one shouted as he joined his five cohorts on the ground.

"You see that, Blake?" Weiss snidely asked. "Cheaters, liars, and thieves. Every last one of them."

Blake could not bring herself to look her leader in the eyes. Nodding silently, she wished that it wasn't like this.

Yang sighed. At the very least, this tension between the two girls could finally be resolved. "Okay, there's six of 'em." The math seemed simple. "We can just sneak up and ko them."

"HEY! What's the holdup?!" A taller man dressed in a white coat, black pants, black hat, and wielding a cane emerged from the gunship.

Ruby gasped. "Roman," she immediately recognized. "That's the Torchwick guy!" she whisper shrieked.

"We're not exactly the most inconspicuous bunch of thieves at the moment!" he sarcastically announced as he made his way down the ramp. "SO! Why don't you animals try to pick up the pace?"

Weiss scoffed. "At least a human's in charge."

"This isn't right. The White Fang would never work with a human." If any answers were going to be had, Blake decided that a more direct approach would be needed.

Standing up, she unsheathed Gambol Shroud. "Especially not one like that!" she spat before leaping off the roof.

"No!" Weiss growled in frustration. "Confound it, Blake!"

Ruby and Yang readied their weapons. Ready or not, it looked like they would be going in.

"Okay, ladies," Weiss sighed as she stood up. "Let's go!" she ordered before jumping off.

As Roman was busy belittling one of his underlings, Blake took the initiative to use her semblance and take him from behind.

"What the-?!" was all he could manage before he realized that someone somewhere had placed something sharp to his neck. "Oh, for fu-" he muttered. It looked like tonight would be one of THOSE nights. "Ugh," he joylessly finished.

As the six members of the White Fang began to respond to the threat, Blake ordered, "Nobody-!"

The air itself seemed to shriek as a red and white figure cut through with their own superspeed and quickly took out two members apiece.

The last two men barely had time to register that they were being attacked before a yelling, charging, golden blur was upon them and punching their guts with shotgun gauntlets. Needless to say, they joined their cohorts in unconscious.

Blake found herself without the desired audience now. "M-move?" she muttered in awe at her team's response.

"Sweet lord," Roman muttered as he rolled his eyes. "You kids just keep getting weirder." he complained, despite having a blade held to his jugular.

"Ever heard of stealth, Yang?" Weiss grunted as she jabbed one of the bodies to ensure that it wasn't getting up anytime soon.

Yang scoffed as she tapped one of her own takedowns with her boot. "I just punch stuff, princess. Subtlety isn't my thing." Chuckling to herself, she added, "Just ask Ruby."

"Oh! Hello, Red." Roman scoffed at the sight of his old acquaintance. "Isn't it past your bedtime?" he jabbed.

"Shouldn't you be calling your mom?" Weiss immediately fired back.

"Oho! Snow White's got bite!" Roman laughed. "It certainly makes up for her lack of height," he shot back with a knowing smirk.

Weiss walked right up to the man and backhanded him. "Look, Greecy, you tried to steal my dust." Pointing the end of Myrtenaster in his face, Weiss stated, "I don't appreciate thieves, and I CERTAINLY don't appreciate animal thieves."

Finger on the trigger, Weiss deadpanned, "Now talk, or there won't be a head left to run that ugly mouth of yours."

Grunting at the sting on his left cheek, Roman chuckled, "I'm going to enjoy breaking your arm."

Blake tightened her grip on their hostage. "Why are the White Fang helping you?" she demanded.

Eyeing his unconscious underlings, Roman scoffed. "I wouldn't exactly call it helping."

Rolling her eyes, Weiss sighed with frustration. "Don't make my yellow friend do the talking," she threatened with a nod towards Yang, whose gauntlets were primed and ready.

"Who cares?" Ruby asked as she folded up Crescent Rose. "We've put an end to his little operation. Can't we just turn him into the authorities and go home?"

A sudden gust of wind picked up; and much to their distress, Team WRBY saw two more gunships coming in.

Grinning, Roman thoughtfully commented, "I wouldn't exactly call it little."

Ruby unlocked Crescent Rose and scooted up next to Weiss. "I spoke too soon," she whispered more to herself than to her leader.

"Blake." Weiss readied Myrtenaster for the impending fight and started walking away. "Break his legs. We'll interrogate him later."

"Ha! That's rich." Roman shook his head with a sigh. "You really have no idea who you're messing with, do you, Snow White?"

Aiming his cane in Blake's general area, Roman discharged a dust round, making for quite an audacious explosion, and sending Team WRBY flying in different directions.

Blake landed with a thud, but she had little time to dwell on the outfoxing as Yang started assaulting Roman, preventing him from discharging any more blasts.

Wasting no time, Blake readied both the blade and equally sharp sheath of Gambol Shroud. "I've got you, Yang!" she exclaimed as she charged in to help her partner.

Weiss and Ruby got their feet just as reinforcements dropped out of the two gunships.

Discharging two exorbitantly large blasts of cyan dust, Weiss successfully froze over a wing on each ship. Both went spinning out of control and crashed out of sight.

"No time to reload," Weiss muttered as she and Ruby stood at each other's backs, surrounded by eight White Fang. "Ready, Ruby?"

Tightening her grip on Crescent Rose, Ruby answered, "I was BORN ready, Weiss!"

Her leader smirked as the White Fang attacked.

On the other side of the dock, Yang was becoming frustrated. For the life of her, she could NOT land a hit on the stupid guy! With every punch she threw, he either backed up or blocked with that annoying cane of his! How was some stupid cane even WITHSTANDING the power of a shotgun blast?!

Whatever the cause, she was totally going to get that cane.

Blake used her semblance in bursts, trying to outflank him. But Gambol Shroud was a slashing sword. Roman's cane proved to be more than a match for her technique.

"So, Goldilocks, how much did you pay for those gauntlet enhancements?" Roman teased as he held his own against the two girls' onslaught.

Yang held her tongue. At arms length, she was just as vulnerable as he was. And Yang was using up her ammo fast. If she was going to land a hit, she'd have to be fast and lucky. Whoever this Roman was, he was good. In the very back of her mind, she realized that he probably even outmatched her.

Yang grimaced as she continued her attack.

Still slashing with both blades of Gambol Shroud, Blake realized that she had to slow down. She was using her semblance too quickly, and she was starting to feel the fatigue. Roman had already gotten a few jabs and punches in, and the bruises were hard to ignore.

In a furious motion, Ruby knocked out yet another unlucky assailant with the end of Crescent Rose. Not one cartridge was spent in the making of that butt-kicking. She figured that that was probably a new record for her.

"Weiss, duck!" she yelled as she swung Crescent Rose over her leader and sent a charging faunus flying frivolously.

Weiss leapt back up to her feet and fired a small blast of red dust towards two more White Fang. the shot hit the ground next to them, and they too were sent sailing through the air.

"I think that's all!" Ruby declared with a huff.

Suddenly, an entire horde of at least twenty, armed with swords, came charging around a conveniently placed corner.

"You really need to stop speaking too soon!" Weiss spat as she observed the oncoming charge and the two versus one going on behind her.

Three more gunships rose up from behind a building. Weiss deduced that they were the source of the reinforcements.

"Oh, come OOON!" she shrieked in frustration as she used her semblance to get behind another faunus and slash him across the back.

Red dust still in the desired chamber, Weiss aimed Myrtenaster at the gunships and fired three deafening blasts.

The first ship was hit dead center and flew straight overhead, crashing into the background.

The second was hit on the wing and began corkscrewing out of control, flying over the bay and meeting a watery end.

The third was hit on the underbelly, right where all of the vital mechanical functioning took place. It too dropped like a fly.

The oncoming horde faltered. Taking on someone that dangerous was NOT in their contract.

In the heat of the moment, Weiss glared at the gunship that Roman had come in on. It just sat there, as if it were somehow BETTER than her. Using the rest of her red dust, she reduced it to a smoldering, burning pile of scrap.

Ruby whistled, very impressed with her leader's marksmanship.

"That was a rental!" Roman cried out in disbelief as he continued to defend himself. "THOSE WERE ALL RENTALS!" he regretfully realized. "YOUR ALBUM SUCKS!"

Yang and Blake were keeping Roman occupied, albeit suffering the stray punch and kick in the process; but the battle was slowly turning in Roman's favor. Weiss realized that action had to be taken, or all would be lost.

Her wristwatch had a whistle attached to it. The watchmaker had given her the most bizarre expression when she showed him her designs for it, but he had accepted the handsome sum offered and constructed the peculiar mechanism.

And now Weiss put her device into practice. Holding up her right wrist, she blew the whistle and, conditioned to respond the command, Blake and Yang immediately withdrew from the fight and retreated to Weiss's side, leaving a very confused Roman behind.

"These kids can't GET any weirder!" he groaned to himself. All he wanted was a little organized crime! Surely the world could not begrudge him just a little mayhem? Alas, it seemed to him that Fate was indeed a cruel mistress.

"Thanks for softening him up, girls!" Weiss quickly congratulated them. "Now get rid of the faunus! Ruby and I will deal with Greecy!"

"It's Roman!" he shouted from across the dock. Honestly, back in his day, he had to show respect to everyone, even to Johnny Johnson, the one who kept taking his lunch money.

"Got it!" Yang and Blake acknowledged as they took off to engage the horde. Maybe now they would make some more direct progress.

Spinning his cane, Roman laughed to himself as he strutted forward. "Really? Snow White and Little Red?" He loaded a fresh dust crystal into his cane before asking, "Do you expect me to run?"

"No, Greecy." Weiss readied Myrtenaster and, seeing that Ruby was ready to charge, activated her semblance. The snowflake appeared beneath her as she explained, "I expect you to cry!"

They charged.

Cane and Myrtenaster clashed with a ringing clang. Weiss leapt back as she swung her next blow, giving Ruby ample room to come in from behind.

But Roman proved to be smarter than that. He pushed forward, forcing Weiss to defend herself and forcing Ruby to hold back. She couldn't swing her scythe in earnest without hitting her leader if the two were so close together.

Weiss grimaced. Putting her foot down, she switched from graceful slashes to vicious stabs. Roman continued to block, but Weiss was able to halt his advance. He started sidestepping to her right, trying to get around her stronger radius of attack.

Weiss was forced to counter by stepping to her left. The two were now locked in a dogfight on the ground, constantly moving in a circle while making stabs, slashes, blocks, and lunges at one another.

It was almost beautiful for Weiss, but the man WAS trying to kill her. And he was doing it with that annoyingly smug grin on his stupid, albino face.

Meanwhile, over on the other side of the dock, Blake and Yang executed one of their strategies that Weiss had proposed.

Blake used her semblance to distract the thugs on the edge of the horde, picking off whomever made themselves vulnerable. Simultaneously, Yang utilized her brute force and stood her ground, taking on the bulk of the charging mass.

Yang slowly became surrounded, but she kept the White Fang at bay with Ember Celica and the occasional roundhouse kick. She was rather fond of this strategy. All she had to do was draw everyone's attention on her and let Blake pick them off one by one.

And Blake, despite her strong reservations against bringing harm to the White Fang without first getting their side of the story, recognized that the time for diplomacy was over. It had been over for years; she had just been too foolish to see it until now.

Blake and Yang fought on, slowly whittling down the horde's numbers.

Simultaneously, as Roman's leg found its way into her midriff, Weiss hit the ground squarely on her buttocks. She tucked and rolled out of the way, just in time for Ruby to leap in and assault the foe.

"Nice of you to wait your turn, Red!" Roman quipped as he evaded her strikes. "But Snow White and I have unfinished business!"

Ruby continued to throw her whole body into her relentless fury of swings and semblance-powered speed boosts.

Blake and Yang stood side by side. Yang was smashing her fists together; Blake was sharpening Gambol Shroud on its equally sharp sheath.

And in the corner was a terrified faunus footsoldier of the White Fang.

Yang chuckled as she sauntered forward. Leaning down into the poor man's face, she puckered up.

The thug didn't know what to think of the inviting kiss.

"BOO!" Yang yelled, suddenly opening her lilac eyes and glaring into his soul.

He was gone before the sound of his shriek reached Yang's ear.

The powerhouse laughed before turning back to Blake. "Ah, that was great." Reloading Ember Celica, she sighed, "Okay, let's go help that darned supremacist."

Blake smirked for the first time that night. Yang showed mercy to someone her leader claimed was inferior. Yang knew that Weiss was wrong. Blake would remember that.

The two charged off to reinforce their team.

Blake came in first, thanks to her semblance. Yang was going to need more time to close the distance, as she was the only one without superspeed; but Blake didn't have time to wait.

As Roman battled against Ruby's unrelenting scythe, he made sure to keep Weiss off his back by constantly moving in and out of her line of attack. If Weiss didn't get a clear shot, she would end up impaling Ruby; so she was forced to wait, much to her growing frustration.

But Weiss saw that Blake was coming in from Roman's left, his weakest defendable flank. She stepped back to give the girl enough room to maneuver.

Timing her strike, Blake brought in Gambol Shroud and made one quick, clean strike across Roman's back.

"Woah there!" Roman shouted in surprised as he quickly turned his back to Ruby and fired at the passing shadow. "Keep the cutting to yourself, pal!"

He silently thanked Cinder for suggesting that he wear an armored vest underneath his suit.

He was distracted, away from Ruby, and unsure of his surroundings. Weiss had never killed a man before, but one stab to the gut was all she needed to achieve what had previously been unattainable honor, glory, and recognition for her leadership abilities.

She activated her semblance and shot forward.

Ruby saw her coming and jumped back, giving her leader all the room she would need.

Roman saw her coming.

As Weiss lunged forward, Roman side-stepped to her far left and hooked his cane around left her arm.

"Wha-?!" was all Weiss could manage as Roman pulled her towards him, grabbed her left arm, and threw her to the ground.

Tightening his grip and using his cane as leverage, Roman snapped her arm completely backwards.

Myrtenaster didn't even hit the ground before she screamed.

"Stupid brat," Roman muttered as he unhooked his cane from her now broken arm and beamed her across the head.

As Weiss fell silent, Roman left the other three without any need to hold back. It was a mistake that he wouldn't have time to regret.

Blake came in from behind, slashing him across the back of his right leg.

He barely had time to kneel before Ruby managed to discharge one armor-piercing cartridge as Blake made her exit.

He barely had time to clutch his pierced chest and fall back before Yang finally came charging up and introduced his jaw to Ember Celica.

The words, "Dodge THIS, Greecy!" echoed alongside the shotgun blast as Roman flew through the air.

All went silent as he landed in an unconscious pile of limbs and flesh.

For the first time in her life, Ruby abandoned Crescent Rose.

"Weiss!" she screamed, running over to her teammate. She made the mistake of grabbing Weiss's broken arm as she rolled her onto her back, eliciting a sharp groan from the girl who was fading in and out of an agonizing coma.

"Gently!" Blake growled as she got down on her knees alongside Ruby. "Apply your aura gently! If you go too fast, you'll end up worse than her!"

Yang got down and joined her sister, applying her own aura to their leader's arm. Such a severe injury could not be saved by aura alone, but it could be stabilized.

The seconds dragged on, and Weiss's head tossed and turned as she desperately groaned for the pain to stop. But her arm slowly found itself back in its original position, and the bone would be healed with the combined aura of Team WRBY.

"We'll need a cast!" Blake explained as they continued to stabilize their leader. "Her arm won't heal properly without a cast to set in place!"

"We need some professionals!" Yang quickly removed her Scroll and started punching in numbers. "I'll call an ambulance!"

Blake looked back to find Roman still unconscious. "Make it two," she muttered begrudgingly.

"You're going to be fine," Ruby pleaded to her groaning leader. "You're going to be fine, don't worry, Weiss."

Through clenched teeth, Weiss managed, "Don't… cry."

It sounded more like an order than a plea, but Ruby still laughed as tears began to drop. 

* * *

The unconscious form of Roman Torchwick was quickly thrown into an ambulance. The paramedics had had the decency of wrapping his face up and bandaging his cut leg and even removing the cartridge from his chest, but they weren't happy about it. The man had done a lot of damage, and he deserved the pain.

"I'm not sure who's the bigger idiot," Weiss confessed as the police finished taking testaments. "The faunus, or the human who thought it was a good idea to hire the faunus."

Blake was too tired to react. She was tired; she was cold; and she just wanted to go to sleep, to forget about all of this.

Ruby refused to leave Weiss's side, even to the now conscious leader whom the paramedics had been able to save. They reassured the team that the arm would heal; and if the other three girls would continue to apply small amounts of aura through each day, Weiss could be back at full strength by the end of the week.

Ruby was overjoyed, practically dancing circles around the exhausted girl.

Yang sighed as she leaned against Roman's cane. He wasn't going to be using it for a while, and she wanted a trophy. Everyone was a winner!

Still, it was nice. Things were finally over. The conflicts were resolved, and all four of them could go back to working perfectly with one another.

Blake was discontent. She had gotten to know Weiss relatively well. She was going to have the last word in this matter before the night was over, and Blake didn't want to hear it.

"Dat'll be all, ladies," the first, still bearded officer, assured them as he and his partner started back to their car. "Everyting checks out. Ye were just defendin' yer property."

Yang watched them drive off. With a little luck, maybe this would be the last time they had to deal with the law.

"Okay," Weiss sighed as she motioned for the three to gather 'round her. "A few words for each of you, and then we'll all go home," she offered.

"What's up, Wess?" Yang asked nonchalantly as she fiddled with Roman's cane.

"First, is that thing unloaded?" Weiss cautiously asked.

Yang broke the barrel open. "Empty as my lover's bed!" she proudly proclaimed before snapping the cane shut.

Ruby groaned; Blake chuckled.

Weiss ignored the lewd comment and continued, "Well, Yang. I'm happy to hear that you avenged me."

Yang smirked. "It was the least I could do. I only wish I'd done it sooner."

Weiss smiled. "You did fine."

Turning to Ruby, she offered the girl her right hand. "You fought brilliantly."

Ruby began to quiver. "B-but I couldn't stop him. I couldn't protect you!"

Weiss sushed the girl and tried her best to hug her with one arm. "You did well. Your diligence showed in your training." Patting the younger girl on the back, Weiss reassured her, "You'll be a magnificent huntress, Ruby."

Once she saw that Ruby understood, Weiss let go of her partner and turned to Blake.

Blake found it difficult to keep eye contact with her.

"Are we good?" Weiss asked. It was a simple question, devoid of any bias.

But Blake knew better. "We're good," she answered.

"Okay." Weiss took in the cold morning air and gazed out at the rising sun. "Then let's head back home. It's the start of a new day, so let's not waste a minute of it!"

Ruby offered Weiss Myrtenaster. "Here!" she eagerly offered.

Weiss accepted the blade with her right hand. It felt absolutely awkward, but she would surely learn to manage. "You're going to have to take notes for me, Ruby."

Ruby nodded. "No problem, Weiss!"

She smiled. The team would be stronger than ever before. "Team WRBY, assume formation!" she commanded.

Ruby stood a few feet behind Weiss. The Team Standard had been left back at the dorm when they left for the stakeout, but Ruby was still the rearguard. And right now, she was perfectly happy to keep her leader in constant sight.

Yang took up the right flank. Ember and Celica were still warm from combat and ready to repel any further attacks.

Blake took up the honorable position of holding the left flank, despite the fact that Weiss couldn't be left-handed right now.

Still, despite the honor, a deep discontent began to brew within Blake Belladonna as the team marched home. This discontent would steadily grow over the years, and it would eventually boil over at the most pivotal moment in her life.

* * *

"She was still wrong. She was still spoiled, spoiled by her wealth and spoiled by her superiority complex. But she was my leader, and I couldn't bring myself to undermine leadership. That would have made me the thing that she hated, that she advocated against. I wouldn't do that. I refused to do that, even for so many years.

"The weeks passed, and Weiss was back to fighting by the end of the first. She pushed us even hard than she had done before. She claimed that it was because of an upcoming competition that would be pitched to all the teams of Beacon, and she claimed that she wanted us to be the best that Beacon had ever seen.

"I still think that she was lying. I still think that she just wanted to be on the stage with crowds cheering her on. I know she grew up with that success in her singing career, so I am confident that that was the case with us. It is an awful thing to believe, but for a long time she was an awful person to follow.

"But the reasons and motives are not as important as what was to come. I myself was not able to witness the important part in person, and so I am forced to rely upon Weiss's account of what happened. I still feel anger towards myself for failing to bear witness. I am not fond of lies or propaganda.

"Even in my old age, I still take her words with a spoon of salt; and I would advise any who read her descriptions to do the same, even if they are found in all of the history texts. Weiss was as ambitious as she was spoiled, and honesty isn't a quality known to be held in high regard by the ambitious. I would also advise disregarding Ruby's recollections of my leader. Her opinion may have been valid at the beginning, but it became skewered beyond validity in our later years.

"For obvious reasons."


	4. Forever, Rise

The late evening air was tense for Beacon. Many would never know how, but Blake could sense it. She justified this tension, as tomorrow was the day that they would be given their Final Exam. But she was on one of the best teams of this year. There was nothing to fear.

It explained her calm and collected stance as she waited outside the auditorium, where several hundred students were quickly gathering for Ozpin's impending announcement of tomorrow's judgement.

Blake perked up as her three teammates approached in a triangular formation. Yang strode in pride alongside Weiss's right flank. Ruby bounced along in the back, proudly bearing the Team Standard.

A low growl rumbled in the back of Blake's throat. That accursed, four colored snowflake was an object of disdain, not honor as Weiss interpreted it. To throw salt on the wound, the setting sun's rays reflected off the cast iron. If Blake didn't understand the meaning behind the Standard, she would have found it mesmerizing.

"Yooo, Blake!" Yang called with a smile as she waved Roman's cane above her head. Two months had passed since she won that prize, and Yang still treated it like a priceless gem.

The three made their way through the passing crowd of silhouettes. "You ready for the Final Exam?" Yang asked as she leaned on her cane.

"She's on our team, Yang." Weiss flipped her hair with a confidence and looked the brunette over. "She was born ready," she complimented with a smirk.

Bemused, Blake raised an eyebrow at the unexpected compliment. "You'll give me diabetes with such sweet words, Weiss."

As the two sisters laughed, Weiss scoffed. Still, she found amusement in the words. With a haughty scoff, she declared, "Very funny, Blake. I can crack a joke if I want."

"I dunno, Weiss." Yang shot with a cocky grin, "Your jokes tend to be a bit… dry." She tossed her cane between her hands as she knowingly added, "Dry like ice."

"OOOOH," Ruby gasped. "Shots fired, Weiss!"

Sighing, Weiss accepted the reality of the situation. Her right flank would forever be pelted with petty puns. "Ozpin is about to give the exam. Let's get inside," she ordered as she began to march ahead.

Blake quickly grabbed Yang and pulled her out of the crowd. "I need to speak with Yang," she quickly explained.

"Don't take too long," Weiss requested before continuing on with Ruby.

Weiss dismissed any suspicion. She had to give Ruby a few choice words now and then. Although, lately it had been Ruby who was doing the pulling. Still, she wasn't complaining.

Ruby wasn't complaining either. She got to take up Weiss's left flank, the most prestigious point of honor in the team. She smiled with pride as she made sure not to hit the Standard on anything without Weiss's order.

Blake quickly pulled Yang a few feet off of the main walkway, behind a conveniently placed tree. Turning to face her partner, her face growing solemn.

And Yang's spirits dropped. "Is this about Weiss?"

Biting her lower lips, Blake reluctantly nodded.

Yang didn't mean for her eye to twitch, but she really didn't want this to become a problem again. "What do you want, Blake?" she asked with dread.

The four had gone back to being normal. Weiss held fast in her leadership, and Yang never noticed a single glare from Blake. Granted, she had become far more reserved about Weiss, but the shorter girl had also ceased in actively belittling the faunus species.

Yang supposed that wasn't good enough for Blake.

Taking in the cool, spring air, Blake confessed, "I want to know what you want, actually." Frowning, she hesitantly ventured, "I assume it's not for your sister to develop a superiority complex."

Yang looked down, truly ashamed of what was happening. "I want Ruby to be happy, Blake."

The brunette nodded, fully understanding of Yang's desire.

"I've never seen her this happy." Looking up, she confided with regret, "I was so scared that Ruby would come here and not find anyone, that she'd continue being this introverted, socially awkward girl who was too afraid to even ask for help."

Blake figured as much. Yang didn't talk too much about life before Beacon. A family was something she didn't have a lot of experience with, but she knew that it was one of the most sacred things to hold dear.

"And you see that Weiss has made her life fantastic?" she assumed.

"Oh, absolutely!" Yang declared with a nod. "Ruby has perfect grades, perfect attendance, and perfect fighting skills! She's got this great extroversion now, and Weiss is helping her every day with, like, everything!" she eagerly explained with a twirl of her cane.

Blake couldn't help but admire Yang's pride. Passion was always part of Yang's personality, but it shone especially bright with Ruby.

Yang's smile fell apart, and sadness seeped into her tone. "But Weiss isn't a good role model. Roman Torchwick showed us that."

Blake raised an eyebrow, now skeptical. "And yet you refuse to intervene? Even though you know that this superiority complex and racism could-"

"I know!" Yang snapped in frustration, stabbing the ground with her cane.

Blake fell silent. Yang had never lost her temper with her before.

Yang growled, waving a dismissive hand. "I didn't mean to lash out at you, Blake."

Placing a hand on her friend's shoulder, Blake gently ushered, "I know. I didn't mean to push."

Sighing, Yang meekly stated, "I just don't want Ruby to go back to the way she was before."

Moving her other hand to Yang's shoulder, Blake sympathized, "You owe a lot to Weiss, I know."

Yang continued to gaze. Blake's beauty was as boundless as her forgiveness. "Ruby means the world to me, Blake. I owe everything to Weiss."

Before Blake could dismiss such a ludicrous statement, Yang quickly explained, "Weiss did what I couldn't do. I tried my whole life to get Ruby to be her own girl, but she only clung to me the harder I tried. I was so scared that Ruby wouldn't break out of her shell."

Blake didn't have any siblings anymore. But she could still sympathize.

"Weiss did it. I don't know how," Yang begrudgingly admitted with a grimace. It was a mystery to her, but she was happy, not caring that she might never know. "But I owe her everything for making my sister into someone who can stand for themselves now."

There was a brief silence, but Blake kept her hand on Yang. How could she begrudge her? She wanted only the best for Ruby.

But that didn't make things right.

"Hey, you two!" Ruby suddenly called out.

Yang and Blake turned to see the Standard Bearer motioning for them to get inside.

"Ozpin's getting started! And Weiss is getting mad! Come ooon!" Ruby nagged before running back inside.

Her timing could not have been more inappropriate. Begrudgingly, Blake followed Yang.

* * *

"You all recall your Initiation Trial in the Emerald Forest, yes?" Ozpin asked, voice echoing loudly over speakers and around the auditorium, the very same location where he announced the new year's teams.

Literally everyone groaned in response.

He smirked. "I'll take that as a confirmation. Well, your first three quarter exams were simple papers, and minor sparring matches. You all enjoyed those, yes?"

Spars whoops and hollers went out as everyone clapped and cheered.

"How'd you like another one? Maybe a fifty question exam with some simple drills on defence?" he asked with a compassionate smile.

At that proposition, the masses of Beacon held Ozpin up to be a god among men.

And that was the moment he lived for. "Well, you're not getting that."

And at that statement, the masses of Beacon proclaimed Ozpin to be a demon from the darkest depths.

Raising a hand, he immediately silenced the boos and disdain of the crowd. "For your Final Exam, you'll be going through a live combat trial, staged in more hostile territory."

With her three teammates behind her, Weiss felt undefeatable. Surely this would be easier than slaying a Nevermore, fighting off hordes of White Fang savages, or listening to Ruby's snoring.

"This exam will be initiated in the area of Forever Fall."

That was a heartstopper for many. Forever Fall was the most dangerous area in all of Northeast Vytal. It was a small area of land, sandwiched between the dominant region of Vale and its extended territories to the east. But what it lacked in size, it made up for in the concentration of hostiles.

"The challenge will test only your ability to kill," Ozpin deadpanned. "Your equations and theorems will be of no use to you in the dense and heavily wooded region of Forever Fall."

Raising his hand again to silence murmurs, Ozpin explained, "This is the most brutal part of your training. Pass, and you will not only survive, but you will know for a fact that you can make a career as a Hunter or Huntress."

It was a do or die path to walk, as all had grown up learning. The demand for Hunters and Huntresses was most dire in Vale, as the lands were yet untamed, and death by mauling was a very real possibility if one was undefended.

"And with that knowledge, you will be able to finish your next three years here and go out into the world. I know that most of you shall remain here and be paid a very handsome salary to defend Vale's frontiers," Ozpin reasoned with confidence.

It was the way of life for Vale. With a greater threat of death came a greater demand for defence. Most of the graduates of Beacon took up their career along the extensive northern frontier of Vale's extended territories. The skill of a graduated Hunter inadvertently funneled Grimm into the less protected region of Forever Fall.

"But, if you seek another road, than that will be your road to walk," he quickly added. There had been some who sought different paths, and while he did not agree with all of them, Ozpin understood the hardships that came with being a Hunter.

And he couldn't begrudge someone for finding an alternative.

He reminded the masses, "To simply pass this exam means to survive the day. It is a basic task that reflects a strenuous job."

Yang felt confident. With Ember Celica on her arms, and with her team backing her up, there was nothing that she couldn't do.

Ozpin stepped away from the microphone and allowed Glynda Goodwitch to take the stage. Drawing up a simple map of Northeast Vytal on the massive screen, Glynda began her debriefing.

"All teams will be deployed to the region of Forever Fall. You will have one day to kill as many creatures of Grimm as you can," she revealed as she played with her Scroll.

Blake relaxed. Command and conquer was a simple task, indeed. The four of them could pick and choose their targets and greatly reduce the risk of severe, or even fatal injury.

A mass Scroll alert echoed through the auditorium.

"Since we don't want a mass slaughter to ensue," Glynda explained with a smirk, "we will be restricting this exam to the southern half of Forever Fall, so that teams will be closer together and able to aid one another, should the need arise."

Weiss scoffed. Such a measure was counterintuitive. If one had not made it this far, why wouldn't they be capable of defending themselves?

"Every member will be equipped with a flairgun for signaling. Teams will be assigned zones in which they must actively seek out prey, slay, and alert the surrounding teams if assistance is required."

A buzz went off in Blake's pocket. Removing her Scroll, she confirmed that she had received the information. "We'll be on the edge of the southern region," she whispered to her teammates who crowded around her Scroll. "By a small stream. If anything, we can catch fish," she joked with a grin.

"What is it with you and tuna?" Ruby asked in a hushed tone.

Blake chose to ignore the question as Glynda continued, "All teams will have two objectives: Stay alive for twenty-four hours. Kill as many Grimm as you can in twenty-four hours."

Glynda stepped back, her task complete.

Ozpin stepped back up. "Any questions?"

There was a timid blonde with a timid voice who timidly asked some kind of question but was drowned out by Ozpin's immediate follow up.

"Good. In that case, I suggest you all gather what supplies you will want for the day and get a good night's rest." With a knowing smirk, he added, "I can assure you that it will be the best sleep you'll have for a while."

* * *

If there was ever to be a moment where Weiss regretted being the head of a diamond formation, it was to be this moment.

"Stupid thistles!" She spat as she cut them down with Myrtenaster. "Of course, WE had to be the best team, so WE have to be put on the frontline of the region!" she spoke more to herself than to her cohorts.

Holding her tongue, Blake effortlessly cut down the overgrown shrubbery as they marched on, and she continued to check all around her. She couldn't tell her teammates, but she knew for a fact that they were being watched.

Yang nearly tripped over a rotting log as she observed, "Isn't that a good thing? I kinda thought you wanted to be the best?" Chuckling, the blonde pulled a few stray thistles out of her massive, susceptible head of hair. "It's only been twelve hours, but if you wanna drop out and go home-"

"Hush, you." Weiss struck down more of Mother Nature's obstacles. She could feel the scratchy seedpods clinging to her. Today would be the day she cursed her own combat skirt. "How much farther, Ruby?" She demanded impatiently as the four continued on, slowly gaining ground as they carved a path. "I want to finish searching this completely EMPTY forest before noon!"

With Crescent Rose in one hand and her Scroll in the other, Ruby trudged behind. Reading maps wasn't exactly her greatest quality. "Um, according to my thingy, our other thingy is, like, five thingies in front of our thingy."

Weiss groaned. "Ruby, darling, that tells me absolutely noth-"

In her last few milliseconds of clarity, Weiss Schnee wondered why, of all places, a root of some plant had to be sticking up just far enough for her boot to catch under it.

And immediately following that thought, Weiss familiarized herself with the freezing cold qualities of running water.

"AWFUL!" She shrieked as she leapt back up and desperately jumped out of the relatively shallow creek. "Ack! Ack! AAAGH!" she incoherently babbled as she shivered and shook her way onto dry land.

"Weiss!" Yang snickered, "Water you doing?"

For the second time in her life, Weiss abandoned Myrtenaster to the ground in exchange for grabbing Yang Xiao Long by her thistle-infested hair and hurling her into the frigid waters of humiliation.

"Getting payback, you uncultured brute!" she screamed back as she laughed with triumph.

Yang sat up, her hair now completely soaked, but conveniently rid of thistles now. "Okay, to be fair…" she muttered as she pulled herself up. "I guess it's no surprise that my puns made you wet for me," she shot back with a perverted grin.

Sensing Ruby's sudden surge of bottled passion, Blake gently tapped her shoulder and pointed towards a drinking Beowolf located across the stream.

Ruby wasted no time with words. Unloading Crescent Rose, she brought the massive scythe down and discharged a single shot across the creek.

The rest of Team WRBY looked across to see that Ruby's shot had struck home in its skull. The decapitated beast made a sizable splash as it fell in and began moving downstream.

"Geeze, sis!" Yang whistled as she crossed back over to her teammates' side. "You could've said something."

Without a hint of regret in her tone, Ruby apologized, "I guess I'll just have to keep a better eye on my leader." To reinforce her point, she scooted closer to Weiss.

Yang had forgotten that her sister could display jealousy. It was an oddly warm feeling for her.

"You two had your flare guns with you, yes?" Blake asked, dreading the answer.

"Oh," was all the two could mutter as the quickly removed their thoroughly soaked devices.

"That leaves us with two flares," Yang sighed with disappointment.

"Good for you, you can do basic arithmetic," Weiss congratulated, her words seething with sarcasm. Taking up Myrtenaster in her left hand, she wiped off most of the undesirable mud that clung to the blade. "Now, let's get ready to-"

"Quiet!" Blake hissed as she stepped forward, arming herself with both blades of Gambol Shroud. "Something's…"

The words died on her lips as her shoes and stockings became soaked in the icy waters.

The three went silent and watched as Blake seemed to freeze in the stream.

Slow pitter patters became louder and louder until the bushes across the water were thrown apart as another Beowulf erupted from within and leapt into the air.

It took Blake less than a second to time her swing and gracefully slice the animal from head to tail.

Wincing as the halves splashed down, Weiss ordered, "Blake, get back!" She motioned for Yang to assume her position on the far left. "Split!"

Conditioned to obey, Blake fell back to their side of the bank and linked up with Yang.

Weiss and Ruby took up their positions to the right of them, making sure to keep enough distance for any wide swings.

"Everyone ready?" Weiss asked as she chambered her red dust cylinder. Before they could really form an answer, she unleashed a sizable blast and set the immediate portion of the forest in front of them ablaze.

The flames balled up into the sky, and smoke fumed as the trees and shrubs were reduced to blackened ash.

And a hideous shrieking of several beasts slowly rose up.

Ruby was eternally grateful that she had had a light meal in the early morning hours.

Beowolves, with their entire bodies aflame, came charging out of the burning hell, death-wrenching gargles spewing from their mouths as they staggered and leapt at the girls.

Keeping their formation and plenty of maneuvering room, Team WRBY cut them down without flaw. Ruby executed a swift swing of Crescent Rose, effectively hacking two of the beasts to pieces. Weiss managed to skewer one through its heart. Blake slashed two into pieces, one with each blade of Gambol Shroud. And Yang punched the other two's faces off.

As the bodies splashed down, the water farther downstream would start running red.

"Of course, WE had to be on the front line!" Ruby complained as she wiped her brow. The flames were growing hotter, and the noon sun wasn't helping.

"Concentrate!" Weiss ordered as she stumbled back whilst swinging at an undesired, burning hostile.

Blake, on Weiss's left, quickly turned 'round and cut the beast down for her leader before resuming her stance.

The beasts came in waves, amidst the flames. As the minutes ticked by, the dead slowly rose until the mud on the banks became red.

"This is a REALLY bad spot!" Yang yelled as the fighting went on.

"We need to find better ground!" Ruby strongly suggested just as a mighty roar shook the woods.

And out came an Ursa, set ablaze just like its cohorts, but much greater in size and strength.

Weiss found this out the hard way when she skewered its chest, but the beast fell atop her.

The water rushed into her as she tried to breath, and the soaked fur of the Grimm clung to her face, blinding her.

Though mere seconds, it was agony, for Weiss could neither breath, see, or remove the water from her lungs.

Ruby leapt forward and held the front as Blake and Yang managed to pull the dying animal off of their leader, who quickly hacked and coughed away her pain.

"We need to GO!" Blake declared as she pulled Weiss to her feet. "We can't hold here!"

Weiss swatted off Blake's assistance. It had all come down to this, and she had two viable options: Conduct a fighting retreat or muster all of her strength and surge forward.

And Weiss never retreated.

The temperature plummeted into a chilling cold as Weiss chambered and discharged most of her cyan dust, carefully aimed at the heart of the flames.

And in that moment, all attacks ceased. The damage became clear. In just a few minutes, nearly an acre of forest had burned down. Several creatures that had not yet made it to the fight had been frozen in the blast, flames encased around their forms.

Sloshing towards the enemy's side of the bank, crossing over into Northern Forever Fall, and defying Ozpin's instruction, Weiss began to march her way inland.

"What are you DOING?!" Blake gawked at her leader's stupidity.

"SEIZING VICTORY!" Weiss exclaimed, brutally executing a Boarbatusk that had been caught in the icy blast, leaving only the head of the beast exposed.

Myrtenaster's steel did not dull easily.

"Weiss, wait!" Ruby called as she leapt after her leader. She certainly wasn't going to stick around in a freezing stream.

"Ruby, wait!" Yang yelled as she disemboweled a charging Boarbatusk with a single, skull-shattering blast. She wasn't going to abandon her sister. Not now, not ever.

"That brat will be the death of us!" Blake spat as she quickly followed after her partner.

Ozpin minimized the screen on his Scroll. "Let her do what she deems appropriate," he told Glynda, who was awaiting his decision. "If she succeeds, history will show that she has done nothing wrong. If she dies, history will show the price of her mistakes."

And so Team WRBY marched deeper into Northern Forever Fall without reprimand. The echoing blasts of other teams grew fainter as they got farther inland.

Weiss Schnee never suspected a coordinated, seemingly planned ambush from animals, but she would eagerly describe the scene in her golden years.

i"I gave the order to charge inland, outside of our assigned lot for the sole purpose of striking a lethal blow to the enemy's heart, to eliminate the threat and bring an end to the threat of death for my teammates. It was a foolish and idiotic mistake that would have gotten my teammates killed, had it not been for our overwhelming prowess in battle.

"We were peppered by attacks from the rear. They were fewer in number than our first encounter by the stream, but they were not random. In fact, their behavior seemed scheduled, even directed. Every few minutes, we were harassed by lowly creatures, but it was not a battle. It was more like a gentle push that moved us farther inland.

"We came to a clearing where we encountered the anomaly."/i

* * *

"Gotta reload!" Yang loudly alerted her teammates as she scrambled to load a fresh chainlink of shotgun shells into Ember Cecilia.

"We're being herded like cattle!" Blake spat as she fired Gambol Shroud into the throat of a charging Beowolf.

"We can't use our semblance!" Ruby screamed as she stumbled backwards, desperately fending off three young Taijitu who were threatening to pounce with their venomous fangs.

"Ruby, DUCK!" Weiss shouted, barely giving the younger girl enough time to get out of her line of fire. Discharging a small blast of red dust, she effectively vaporized the three snakes.

A roaring Ursa forced Team WRBY to concentrate all of its attention on the charging beast. With the four of them working on one target, they easily reduced the animal to a mangled, bloodied, dying pulp. But they were losing strength, and more creatures were inbound.

Amidst the chaos of the moment, Weiss spotted a superior battle position. Just barely, through the thick of the wooded battleground, she could see a clearing.

Blowing the whistle attached to her watch, Weiss signaled for her teammates to break off their defense and follow her.

Quickly emerging from the forest, Blake gawked at the incredibly good luck that had fallen upon them. It was a small clearing, only a few hundred feet in diameter. But, at the very center lay an even smaller hill. Barely twenty feet tall, the hill was at a steep angle, and it made for a very good position from which to fight.

Weiss quickly arrayed her team atop the hill, placing herself on the south, Ruby on the north, Blake on the east, and Yang on the west. They quickly reloaded their armaments for the impending attack.

The clearing was quickly enclosed as Beowolves, Taijitu, Ursa, and Boarbatusks savagely broke from the forestline. With jaws aching for flesh and eyes locked on their juicy prize, the creatures of Grimm rushed headlong towards Team WRBY's final stand.

Weiss herself would describe the moment.

i"From our commanding position we easily disrupted the Grimm's oncoming charge. With a single volley of dust, my team and I could inflict explosive damage upon the tightly-packed animals, forcing them to scatter. With our ranged tactics, we managed to hold off what would amount to be an entire forest of hostiles for over ten minutes before sheer numbers finally closed the distance."/i

Climbing over their dead, the creatures of Grimm threw themselves upon the team stationed firmly atop the hill.

Cold steel and explosive punches met the skulls and exposed underbellies of the front push, and Team WRBY showed no mercy, fighting with the utmost bravery, care, and passion.

i"Thought surrounded by Grimm with minimal room to maneuver, my team and I defended ourselves with the utmost care for several minutes as the Grimm pushed on our position. We killed dozens of beasts at the cost of only a few scratches. As their numbers dwindled, the struggle shifted towards our favor, and we cut them down."/i

Out of ammunition and exhausted from overexposure to suicidal odds, Blake's legs began to go numb as she decapitated a Taijitu before immediately swinging at a Beowulf. She couldn't use her semblance in this position and there seemed to be no end in sight.

It was a miracle that her bow had stayed on for the entire time.

Yang had felt fear in the past, but this was some sort of clarity in which she knew that death was only minutes, if not seconds, away. Ember Cecilia would run out of shells, and then Yang would be defenseless. She'd be torn to pieces, and the rest of her team would fall after her. Ruby, her precious and only sister, would be brutally murdered by animals.

Despite having the heaviest weapon to wield, Ruby maintained her balance and continued to hold her side of the hill. Thanks to her diligent and equally brutal training, her spirit was strong. Her leader was invincible. Her leader was perfect. They couldn't fail.

Slicing off the head of a young Ursa, Ruby refused to leave Weiss's back undefended. Although, the hillside could only absorb so much blood. With it beginning to pool and runoff, Ruby found it difficult to maintain her footing, as did the other huntresses.

Weiss was beginning to realize the error in her judgement. Bolstered by pride and superiority, she had sentenced herself and her team to die a horrible death at the claws of animals. What stung even more was that she had fresh dust in her pouch, stored in her left sleeve. She just didn't have enough time to reload, and her team couldn't cover her.

When Crescent Rose discharged her last bullet, Ruby frantically drew her flare gun and blindly fired it into the next wave.

The fizzle of the flare was not only audible, it was the only sound that Team WRBY could hear. Glowing red smoke quickly went up into the sky, surpassing the tallest of trees.

All of the Grimm lay dead, collected at the bottom of the hill, in pools of their own blood, guts, and moans. The dying would not go quietly.

Weiss took it all in. Her legs and arms were sore, cut and bleeding. Her chest ached, her heart pounding. The ringing in her ears was slowly subsiding as the sound of silence finally overcame the sounds of the roars and shrieks.

At one moment, the team had been fighting for its very survival. In the very next, all of the opposition had withdrawn.

Yang, who had always been ready for a fight, who complained when combat sessions came to an end, who whined and moaned when Blake prefered to read rather than to spar, wondered aloud, "I think I'll try painting."

Gasping for breath and wondering if she misheard, Blake was broken from her trance and looked to her partner. "What?"

Collapsing on her rear, Ruby wiped her brow, ironically smearing more blood on her face. "We have plenty of red," she observed, panting.

Wasting no time, Weiss frantically broke open Mytrenaster and chambered a fresh, six cylinder round of dust. "Aura," she gasped as her legs finally gave out and she fell unceremoniously upon her rear. "Heal," she seethed, commanding her body as if it could hear her plight.

"Our clothes are ruined," Ruby laughed, still unsure of whether or not she was alive. "I can't believe we made it."

"Ruby," Yang giggled, suddenly becoming drunk with joy. Crawling over to her sister's quarter of the hill, she pulled her sister into a feeble hug, for her strength had yet to return. "You'll die of sugar deprivation before you die of old age!"

Looking over to her second-in-command, Weiss immediately noticed that Blake was the only one who could still stand. "Blake?"

She turned, revealing a nasty gash across her chest. "I feel-"

Scrambling to her feet, Weiss barely managed to call to the girl before she fell to her back and started rolling down the hill, Gambol Shroud abandoned.

"Ruby! Yang!" Weiss alerted the two as she flounced after Blake, who made it all the way down to the bottom and landed firmly amongst the dead and dying with a splash.

The sisters weren't far behind and quickly helped Weiss in pulling Blake out of the impromptu grave. Sacrificing her cape, Ruby used it as a bandage for the girl's midriff, so as to stop the bleeding and effectively apply aura.

"I don't think it'll be enough," Weiss hesitated, weighing her options. Even with the three of them, she didn't want to risk it. "We have to go back," she decided, firmly clutching Myrtenaster in her left hand.

The three conscious fighters froze when a new, strange voice spoke.

"How kind," she rasped.

They looked up to see a form, tall and slender. Granted, part of what made her so tall was the fact that she was atop an Ursa.

Time practically froze for the three girls.

"Take your dead." Whether it was an offer or order, they knew not, but they gladly accepted the offer. "And I take mine."

Weiss allowed her own aura to begin repairing her body. She didn't like this strange creature's tone.

The being dismounted, getting out from under the sun's rays and revealing herself in more detail.

Her skin was paler than usual, and her face was breaking out into some sort of white mess that resembled a Grimm's. She was cloaked in the tattered remains of what appeared to be some sort of combat gear. It must have been a very gentle brown and gold at the beginning. Atop the figure's head were two very long, and at this point very dirty ears.

"Rabbit," was the first word that came to Weiss's mind.

The Ursa quietly poked and prodded at a dying Beowolf whose whimpers were not cured by its cohort's licking.

Motioning to the nearly-touching scene, the figure murmured, "Family." Turning back to Weiss, the figure deadpanned with a rasp, "You killed most of mine."

Her eyes were dead.

"Get Blake proper medical assistance," Weiss ordered as she got to her feet, careful not to slip in the blood. Her aura had restored enough of her strength to stand, thankfully, and it was restoring the rest of her with exponential speed.

The Ursa began to huff, frantically nudging the now silent Beowolf.

"Shhh," the figure soothed as she stroked the beast's fur. Staring into Weiss's eyes, she shook her head. "Go. Never return."

Weiss slowly connected the evidence of what she saw, what she had been taught, and what she deduced.

"You're one of Those Who Fell."

Her breathing was ragged, just like her voice, but she didn't seem to have trouble speaking. "You don't listen to me," she stated, observing Weiss's defiant behavior. "My family listens to me."

Weiss's aura was working fast. She just needed to buy a little more time. Here before her was one of Those Who Fell. An anomaly to all of mankind. How did she Fall? Was she selected? Or was the process random?

Hands faithfully placed on Blake's wounds, Yang continued to channel her aura into her partner. "You command the Grimm?" she hesitantly asked with a gulp.

The figure studied the shorter girl, covered in blood. Her snow white hair was tattered and frayed, and her clothes were ruined. But her skin was healing quickly, and her stance suggested that she was feeling better than when they first met.

She was becoming a threat.

"We're family," she answered. "Leave. All of you," she ordered with growing dread and aggression.

Turning to the sisters, Weiss asked, "Has she stabilized?"

Ruby looked to her leader and desperately responded, "I think she needs a doctor, Weiss."

"Then we go," Weiss quickly decided. Motioning for the sisters to move first. "I'll watch our flank, while you two move Blake back to Beacon."

No objections were made as Yang took her partner into her arms, as if she were her bride. Ruby quickly gathered Gambol Shroud and staggered after her sister.

"I'm right behind you two!" she shouted as she slowly backed away from the strange being and her personal Ursa.

Team WRBY didn't get very far.

Weiss's shriek of agony rang through the forest, and Ruby was quick to return to the scene, thanks to her semblance.

"WEISS!" she wailed, taking in the sight of her leader on her stomach, with her left leg cut open, and the perpetrator in plain sight.

"Ruby!" Weiss cried out, clutching her wounded leg. "HELP MEEE!"

Without hesitation, Ruby gripped Gambol Shroud and fired the blade towards her target.

The figure ducked; but Gambol Shroud proved to be faster, barely catching the figure's left ear and tearing it from her head.

Ruby wouldn't accept it. Mustering all of her strength, Ruby pull-fired another shot and wrenched the compact sword back, intent on taking the rest of the beast's head as it went by.

But the figure collapsed to her knees, letting loose a rippling cry of horrendous agony and unintentionally dodging the blade. She clutched her wounded ear, and blood quickly poured through her fingers as she staggered away from Weiss.

The whole forest seemed to come alive with howls and screams as Grimm of all kind unleashed similar cries of agony.

"DIIIEEE!" Ruby shrieked as she shot forward with her semblance, Gambol Shroud in its basic sword mode and hellbent on extracting justice.

The figure bent down, still clutching her ear, and leapt high into the air, dodging Ruby's attack again.

In a mere second she was gone, followed by her Ursa and what sounded like the rest of the Grimm population; the whole forest echoed as the sound of hundreds of Grimm fled in the same direction, the north.

Throwing Gambol Shroud on the ground, Ruby cried murder at the lucky fiend. But she remembered that there were more dire matters to deal with.

"What happened NOW?!" Yang shrieked in a panicked tone as she finally caught up with Ruby.

Ruby was already at Weiss's side. Without her cape, Ruby ripped her combat skirt off, using it as a bandage for Weiss's leg.

"Don't die, Weiss!" Ruby pleaded as she began applying her aura. "Please don't die!"

Weiss did not respond. Ruby couldn't tell her blood apart from the swamp of Grimm blood that surrounded the area.

Setting her partner down, Yang began to work on their newest patient as well, cursing the whole day that they had had the misfortune of waking up to. "That flare went up forever ago!" she exclaimed in frustration. "The other teams should be here!"

And, right on cue, the sounds of other teams slowly alerted the sisters to their long awaited reinforcements.

"I'm not leaving you," Ruby whispered as she continued her efforts. "I'm never leaving you."

* * *

Blake found the setting sun to be a very calming scene. It was behind glass, but it was still beautiful. She was happy that they had been placed in a room facing the West.

"Awful," Weiss groaned as she refused to eat another bite.

"C'mon, Weeeiiiss!" Ruby pleaded as she offered her leader another bite of the sandwich. "You need to regain your strength."

Turning her head like a toddler, Weiss refused. "One bite was enough, Ruby. I won't eat this atrocious hospital food."

Yang did a double take, looking up from her painting magazine. "Uh, Weiss? That's one of YOUR sandwiches," she confessed.

That got a chuckle out of Blake, who was lying in her own hospital bed on Weiss's left. "I suppose you were going to find out, sooner or later," she sighed with a smirk.

"Fine!" she huffed. "One of YOU can pack our rations from now on!" she proclaimed with a wave of her hand.

A brief knock on the door drew Team WRBY's attention, and none other than Ozpin and Glynda entered.

All four were in bandages, but Yang and Ruby had mere scratches that were probably already healed. Blake and Weiss were practically covered in casts and bandage.

Looking past the startling sight, Ozpin stated, "I hear the patients are doing well." as he and his cohort chose to stand in the far left corner of the room.

Closing the door behind them, Ruby returned to her chair beside Weiss's bed. "We've been hearing it too," she chided.

With a nod, Glynda explained, "We won't keep you for long. We just need a brief recount of what happened out there. A more detailed one can be made later."

The four collectively groaned.

"This has been the worst day ever," Yang declared. "Of all time."

"A brief report it is," Weiss decided on the spot. Failing to keep the agitation out of her tone, she reported, "Let's see, we got the the border of our zone. Grimm attacked us. We pursued them, got surrounded, fought our way out, made a FANTASTIC last stand-" she paused.

Looking to Ruby, Yang, and Blake, she honestly stated, "All of you fought with the utmost bravery and saved my life. I can't thank you enough for this service."

Receiving two smiles and a reserved nod, Weiss continued, "So, we made our stand, and the Grimm suddenly backed off."

"That's when you encountered her?" Glynda prodded as she made notes on her Scroll.

"If you want to insinuate that she's a human being," Weiss quipped with snark. "It was a hybrid between man and beast."

Ruby added with disgust, "Grimm junk was growing on her face. It was gross."

"Still, she spoke with us," Yang spoke. "Not much, she just wanted us to leave her 'family,' but yeah. She could talk."

Sighing with discontent, Ozpin ran a hand through his hair. "We have very little data on the issue, but from your words, it would have to be one of Those Who Fell."

Motioning towards her left leg, firmly wrapped in a cast, she spat, "Well, she certainly fell hard upon my leg!"

Blake, having remained silent and reserved, suddenly asked, "Ruby, could you go over what you heard and saw? One more time?"

Unsure of Blake's doubt, Ruby cautiously answered, "Weiss said she'd cover us. Yang carried you to the south. I grabbed your weapon, and I was about a hundred feet when I heard Weiss scream."

Brow furrowed, Blake fell into discontent thought.

"Don't be like that, Blake," Weiss ordered with a scoff. "I can tell you're thinking something else, so why don't you spit it out already?"

Eyeing the casted leg, Blake muttered, "Why would she strike your leg, if your back was turned? Why not your spine, or your neck?"

Rolling her eyes, Weiss suggested, "You could hobble back out there and ask the fiend yourself!"

"Enough," Ozpin warned. "Bickering won't solve anything. Let's finish this up, and you two can get some rest."

Happy to oblige, Weiss continued, "I was struck in the leg. I heard Ruby and asked her to help me." Looking to her partner, she asked, "Didn't you grab the ear before we came back?"

"It's being analyzed in the lab," Glynda answered. "It's quite a trophy. No one has ever been able to bring back any pieces of Those Who Fell."

Weiss took Ruby's hand in her own. Patting the younger girl, she declared, "You have Ruby Rose to thank for this find."

Relaxing in her own chair, Yang took in the scene. "I'm so proud of you," she whispered below her breath. She quickly cursed the dust that had gotten into her eyes.

Smiling, Ozpin revealed, "On the contrary, all four of you will be thanked rather profusely."

With the four girls' attention on them, Glynda explained, "The four of you not only survived the day and killed the most Grimm, but you encountered and fought off one of the most feared beings known to us."

"This day marks a new chapter for Team WRBY and Beacon," Ozpin declared. "What I'm being told right now is that Forever Fall has been abandoned by the Grimm."

There was a shocking pause. Forever Fall, the hotly contested area, the region that was the most threatening to all of Vale, could not simply be abandoned.

"How?" was all Weiss could ask.

"To put it simply, we don't know," Glynda confessed. "It's only been a few hours, but our scouts report absolutely no activity in the Southern Half. They've yet to thoroughly scout the Northern Half, but Vale's extended territories are reporting a sharp decrease in Grimm activity."

"Hence why we think they have withdrawn entirely from the region," Ozpin ended.

"What of the anomaly?" Weiss asked, trying to sit up. Her various bandages confined her for the most part, unfortunately. Ruby's pressing hands weren't exactly helping either.

Shaking his head, Ozpin answered, "Nothing. It would seem that she has fled with the rest of the Grimm."

The leader grimaced. "Very well," she sighed with reluctance. "Was there anything else?"

Smiling, Ozpin shook his head. "Nothing else for now. Your wounds will be completely healed by the end of the week, thanks to a wonderful combination of aura and modern medicine."

"You'll have a feast to look forward to," Glynda congratulated the four girls as the two began to make their exit.

Yang got to her feet and opened the door for them. "Can't we stay here?" she feebly requested.

Ruby clutched Weiss's hand. She refused to leave. "Of course we're staying! Our friends need us!"

"What your friends need is rest," Glynda countered as she motioned for Ruby to come with them. "And they won't be getting any if you and your sister are here to keep them up all night with banter."

Ruby hesitated, her stance frozen.

Patting the younger girl's hand, Weiss gently spoke, "Ruby, it's for the best. I'd love to have you with me, but it's time for you to go."

Weiss would be perfectly safe for the night, but Ruby was scared. "Weiss? I… I don't-"

"Shh," she whispered, placing a finger on the girl's lips. "If you behave, we'll go anywhere you want to when I'm well again. We'll spend the whole day together, how does that sound?" she bargained as she removed her finger from Ruby's face.

Reluctantly, Ruby Rose rose from her seat with a sad sigh and agreed to Weiss's terms.

As the door shut with a click, Blake glared at her leader. "You nearly got us killed," she seethed with venom.

"I know," Weiss immediately responded, returning the glare. "And I've already apologized for my actions."

"We almost DIED, Weiss!" Blake reminded her with a raised voice. "If you want to get yourself killed, fine! But Ruby, Yang, and I almost got disemboweled, and all because YOU couldn't just stand your ground!"

"I know!" Weiss shot back. "I'm going to make it up to all of you, I promise!" she quickly amended.

"I don't care about a 'sorry' gift!" Blake spat in disgust. "Don't try to buy me off, Weiss! Tell me why I shouldn't disband from your suicidal leadership and leave!"

"Because I NEED YOU!"

Blake fell silent.

Panting, Weiss drew in a deep breath to calm herself. "I need you, Blake. I need you, Yang, and Ruby."

Anger resuming, Blake began, "That doesn't justify-"

"I KNOW!" Weiss snapped back. "I wanted us to score the highest on that blasted exam, and I nearly got us killed for it, I know!" Swallowing hard, Weiss continued with a shaking voice, "But I care about the three of you, Blake. I'm not going to do anything stupid like that ever again, okay?"

Blake remained silent. This was too good to be true. It went against all of Weiss's character and ambition.

But Weiss looked sick to her stomach. This couldn't be an act.

"The three of you can be magnificent huntresses, the strongest that the world has EVER seen," Weiss reasoned. "Today proved that to be true." Look over to the door, Weiss weakly admitted, "And I want to be with the three of you for the rest of my life."

Blake hadn't expected those words from such a girl. "Coming on rather strong," she commented.

"But it's true." Running a hand over her face, Weiss confessed, "I have never had friends until Beacon. I have never had support, I have never had love, I have never had anything like this until now!"

Staring out at the setting sun, Weiss muttered, "I don't want to be alone anymore."

Blake let out a scoff.

Turning to look at her second-in-command, Weiss raised an eyebrow. "Yes, Blake?"

Gracefully adjusting her bow, she muttered, "That shouldn't be a problem, seeing as Ruby is head over heels in love with you."

Weiss's lack of reaction implied that she already knew that.

Looking her leader in the eye, Blake asked, "Are you going to date her?"

Sighing, Weiss looked back to the sun. "I think so," she quietly answered.

Letting out a sigh of her own, Blake watched the sun with her leader. "Okay."

Blake couldn't see it, but Weiss Schnee would fall asleep with a small, genuine smile at the notion of dating the hyperactive, bubbly, and just-plain-adorable Ruby Rose.

* * *

**A/N: **I want to thank all of you for getting this far. You clearly care about my work. So, thank you. Thank you for caring, thank you for making all of this worth my time and passion.


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